Minutewomen set for LAX play-in game

AMHERST, Mass. (WWLP) - The No. 16 UMass women's lacrosse team looks to return to the NCAA Tournament as the Minutewomen host Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Champion Canisius on Saturday afternoon (1 PM) at McGuirk Stadium in the NCAA Play-In Game. UMass is coming off its third straight, fourth overall, Atlantic 10 Championship title after defeating Duquesne and Richmond last weekend in Philadelphia.

After winning its third consecutive Atlantic 10 Tournament Title, the No. 16 UMass women's lacrosse team hosts Canisius in one of two NCAA Tournament Play-In Games on Saturday at McGuirk Stadium (1 PM). The Golden Griffs won their first-ever Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament Championship last Sunday with a 13-8 win over top-seeded Fairfield. UMass improved to 16-2 overall and extends its winning streak to 9 straight games after the run to the A-10 title.

This will be UMass' second year in the NCAA Play-In game after falling last season at No. 15 Stanford, 15-12. The Minutewomen are looking to get back to the Field of 16 for the first time since 2009 when UMass lost at Northwestern in the NCAA First Round.

Both teams are in the midsts of historic seasons. UMass' 16 wins are the second most all-time with a season that arguably ranks among the best in the last 30 years. Canisius enters the game with a 14-5 overall record which is the Golden Griffs' best ledger in program history.

UMass won the first-ever NCAA sponsored women's lacrosse national title in 1982. The Minutewomen followed that with a pair of semifinal appearances in 1983 and 1984. It would take 25 more years until UMass returned to the Big Dance.