Buffs Earn Historic NCAA Tournament Berth

BOULDER — For the first time in the program's short history, the Colorado Buffaloes have been selected to compete in the NCAA Tournament as they will face Massachusetts in the first round on Friday, May 12, at 5 p.m. MT in Philadelphia, Pa.

Penn is the No. 7 seed in the tournament and will face Navy in the first round. The winners of the two first round games will face off in the semifinals on Sunday, May 14.

The Buffs, who are ranked ninth in the Nike/U.S. Lacrosse Magazine poll and are 10th in the IWLCA Coaches and Cascade/Inside Lacrosse media poll, finished the regular season with a 16-3 record and were a perfect 8-0 at home. UMass won the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament, finishing the regular season with a 16-3 record. One of those three losses came against CU (11-7) early in the season.

The tournament invite is one of many milestones for the Buffs in their fourth year as a varsity program. They opened the season with a thrilling overtime win against then-No. 9 Northwestern for their first win over a ranked opponent and defeated three other ranked teams, including then-No. 6 Penn State on the road. The Buffs also started the season with 11 straight wins and were one of the last two unbeaten teams in the nation (Maryland is still undefeated at 19-0).

The field consists of 26 teams. The first and second rounds will be played May 12 and 14. Quarterfinals are set for either May 20 or 21 at campus sites and the final four will be played May 26-28 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

QUOTES:
ATHLETIC DIRECTOR RICK GEORGE
"I'm excited for Ann and the team. To be in this position in four years is pretty amazing. There are only 26 teams in the country who get an NCAA bid and to be one of those teams with a program that has only been in existence for four years is pretty amazing. Ann and her staff have done a great job and our student-athletes have done a great job. They have done a great job and they deserve it."

HEAD COACH ANN ELLIOTT
"We are really excited, especially after last year and not seeing our name pop up on the selection show. We are really excited about the opportunity to play in May."

"This has been a goal of ours from the very beginning of the program, where we get to play in the NCAA tournament. This senior class really has worked hard, starting from day one. They have put in the work and the time and this season has been exciting."

"We played UMass back in February and one thing that I know is that it doesn't matter what you did back in February. We are really excited to have the opportunity to play UMass at Penn and see what we can do. It is one game at a time. Everyone is 0-0. You have to earn it."

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