May 9, 2005

The Endicott men's lacrosse team will travel to Keene State on Wednesday, May 11th as they compete in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. The Gulls (14-3), who won the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship for the second straight year, received an automatic bid to the national tournament. The winner of Wednesday's 4:00 p.m. game will travel to Middlebury, VT for a second round NCAA game on Saturday at 1:00 p.m versus Middlebury College.

Only 17 teams out of 150 in the country advance to the NCAA Tournament. Endicott is making its second consecutive appearance in the NCAA's, third in school history. The Gulls defeated cross-town rival Gordon, 16-4, in the CCC Championship game to advance. Keene (10-4) is making its first appearance in the NCAA's as they captured their first-ever Little East Conference Championship with an 11-4 victory over reigning champ Eastern Connecticut State University.

The Gulls defeated Keene State, 15-7, in their season opener and hold a 2-1 series advantage over the Owls. Last year Keene got the best of the Gulls with the same score and the year before that, in 2003, the Gulls defeated the Owls in an ECAC semifinal match up.

This year's NCAA finalists will advance to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's Lincoln Financial Field for the championship game, which will be played at noon, May 29, and televised live by College Sports Television (CSTV).