Northwestern lacrosse to face Richmond in the first round of the NCAA Tournament

Northwestern lacrosse has a destination set for the NCAA Tournament.

The Wildcats (13-5, 5-1 B1G) will head to Towson, Md. to face the Richmond Spiders (16-3, 8-1 Atlantic 10) in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday. It will mark Northwestern’s fifteenth consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament. Should Northwestern beat the Spiders, it will likely face the seventh-seeded Towson Tigers in the second round on Sunday.

The Spiders earned their berth in the NCAA tournament by winning the Atlantic 10 conference championship. They dropped both of their matchups to ranked opponents, losing 15-7 to Virginia and 14-9 to James Madison. Richmond doesn’t have a particularly explosive offense, but the Spiders can defend with the best in the country. The Spiders allow only 8.22 goals per game, the third-best mark in the country. They also force 10.28 turnovers per game, which would have been the best mark in the Big Ten.

Northwestern enters the tournament on a two-game skid, dropping its Big Ten Tournament semifinal matchup to Penn State on Friday after losing to Maryland the week before. The Wildcats couldn’t keep up with Penn State in a high-scoring affair on Friday night, allowing 13 first-half goals before ultimately falling 21-16.

A fifteen-minute scoreless drought for the Wildcats allowed Penn State to take a five-goal lead in the first half, and Northwestern could only match the Nittany Lions goal for goal for the rest of the game.

Selena Lasota led the way for Northwestern with six goals to bring her season total to 53, good for the third-best total in the Big Ten.

Last season, Northwestern defeated Albany in the first round of the NCAA tournament before falling to No. 8 Stony Brook.

Here’s a look at the full bracket: