STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - May 4, 2003 - The Penn State men's lacrosse team (7-6, 3-2 ECAC) earned its first NCAA Tournament bid in school history after the NCAA released its tournament brackets today. The Lions will take on the Towson Tigers (8-5) on Saturday, May 10 at Towson University. Game times for first round matches will be announced later in the week by the NCAA.
Only the four top teams are seeded in the tournament while the rest of the teams are placed in the bracket by their proximity. Johns Hopkins claims the No. 1 seed followed by Virginia, Maryland and Princeton. The winner of the Penn State vs. Towson game will take on the winner of No. 1 seed Johns Hopkins vs. Army match on Sunday, May 18 at Towson.
Penn State has played Towson14 times in its history. The Tigers lead the all-time series between the two teams 10-4. The last time the Lions matched-up with the Tigers was in 1995 when they defeated the Towson on the road 15-10. The Tigers won its first Colonial Athletic Association Championship and second league title in three years after defeating Hofstra 16-11 on May 3.
Penn State defeated No. 17 Ohio State 13-4 on May 3 to finish its regular season. The win marked the fourth opponent ranked in the USILA Top 20 the Lions defeated this season. Penn State defeated three of the 16 teams in this year's tournament. The teams include Ohio State, Massachusetts and Rutgers.
Head Coach Glenn Thiel was thrilled about returning to the NCAA Tournament since coaching at Virginia. "When we defeated UMass the team started to gain confidence and everyone was contributing," said Thiel. "Garrity won games for us and Lars Tiffany has coordinated a great defensive unit that has kept us in games."
