NCAA Bracket
GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – Six Atlantic Coast Conference teams were selected to the 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championship, as the 29-team field was announced Sunday evening by the NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Committee. The ACC leads all conferences with six teams in the field, including three among the tournament’s top five seeds.
ACC champions for the sixth straight season, North Carolina (18-0) claimed the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 seed following an unbeaten regular season that included an 8-0 mark in ACC play and three wins in capturing the ACC Championship.
Reigning national champion Boston College (16-3) earned the No. 3 seed, while Syracuse (14-5) notched the No. 5 seed. Duke (15-3), Notre Dame (9-9) and Virginia (9-9) also received at-large bids into the field.
By virtue of their top-three seeds, the Tar Heels and Eagles received first-round byes and will host first- and second-round games.
North Carolina enters the NCAA Tournament as a top-five seed for the 12th consecutive season. UNC claimed a first-round bye and will play host to the winner of the Virginia-Southern California game on Sunday in a second-round contest. ACC champions for the sixth straight season, the Tar Heels are in the NCAA field for the 17th consecutive tournament and 23rd time overall.
Boston College, which has reached the NCAA championship game each of the past four tournaments, earned a first-round bye and starts its tournament on Sunday against the Vermont-Denver winner. This will mark the ninth straight NCAA appearance for the Eagles and their 10th overall.
Syracuse will play Fairfield on Friday and will compete in a pod that also includes Princeton and UMass. Because of a conflict at Syracuse’s Carrier Dome, the games this weekend will be played at Princeton. The 2021 national runner-up, the Orange are making their 10th straight NCAA tournament appearance and 19th overall.
Duke will take on Johns Hopkins on Friday in a first-round game in College Park, Maryland. The winner takes on No. 2 seed Maryland on Sunday. The Blue Devils received their 21st NCAA bid in program history, including their second straight.
Notre Dame will play Michigan on Friday in Evanston, Illinois. The winner advances to play No. 4 seed Northwestern or Central Michigan. The Irish are making their 15th overall NCAA Women’s Lacrosse tournament appearance and their seventh as an ACC member.
Virginia plays Southern California on Friday in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. UVa extended its streak of consecutive NCAA tournament appearances to 26 and will make its 34th tournament appearance.
The preliminary-round games on May 13 and 15 will be shown live on ESPN+.
The quarterfinals will be played on Thursday, May 19. The winners of the four quarterfinal games will advance to the national semifinals, hosted by Johns Hopkins at Homewood Field in Baltimore, Maryland. The semifinal games will be shown live on ESPNU at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Friday, May 27. The championship game will air live on ESPN on Sunday, May 29 at noon.
The ACC now has placed at least four teams in 17 consecutive NCAA Tournaments and 22 of the 25 years that the league has sponsored the sport. The conference owns 16 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse titles and has had a team in the national title game 11 times in the last 12 seasons. The ACC has had at least one team in the national semifinals in 31 straight tournaments and 35 times overall.