DETROIT (10/18/2012) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team will join the Atlantic Sun Conference in the spring of 2013 after previously being part of the National Lacrosse Conference (NLC) and the winner of the Atlantic Sun Championship will have the right to an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament which was added to the conference in August of this year from the NCAA.
“I think this puts Detroit lacrosse in the best opportunity that we have ever been in knowing that going into conference play and the conference tournament, we'll be playing for the opportunity to get to the NCAA's for the first time in school history,” said UDM women's lacrosse head coach
Laura Maness who will be entering her second year with the team in the 2012-13 season.
The Titans will be part of a five-team conference with Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Mercer, Stetson, and Howard in 2013. A-Sun member Mercer and affiliate members Elon and Furman will begin play in women's lacrosse in 2014.
The A-Sun Women's Lacrosse champion will qualify automatically for the NCAA Tournament in the league's inaugural season of competition, thanks to bracket expansion announced by the NCAA in August of this year.
“Expanded competitive opportunities for our student-athletes is always a pleasure to announce,” said A-Sun Commissioner Ted Gumbart. “Now the A-Sun can add women's lacrosse to the list of our teams who receive the opportunity to compete at the highest level as we strive to fulfill our mission of 'Building Winners for Life.' We look forward to a very successful future in women's lacrosse.”
Women's lacrosse is one of three Division I sports whose championship brackets will expand in 2013. In August, the NCAA Executive Committee approved a budget that included a recommendation from the Division I Championships/Sport Management Cabinet to expand championships in the Football Championship Subdivision, women's lacrosse and rowing.
Women's lacrosse will expand its brackets in the spring of 2013, increasing from 16 to 26 teams. Expansion in the two women's sports is consistent with the Executive Committee's charge to ensure that equitable opportunities exist in light of the bracket expansion for the FCS championship.
In women's lacrosse, all 13 conference champions will receive automatic qualification into the field. Those conferences include the A-Sun, America East, American Lacrosse, Atlantic 10, ACC, Big East, CAA, Ivy League, Metro Atlantic, Mountain Pacific, Northeast, and Patriot conferences. The remaining 13 teams will be at-large selections.
The top eight teams will be seeded in the bracket and will host first- and second-round games. The top six seeded teams will receive byes into the second round and serve as hosts for a neutral-site first-round game May 10. The first-round winners then play at the top-six seeded teams May 12. The teams seeded seventh and eighth will also host, but they will have to play a first-round game May 10.
The quarterfinals are at campus sites May 18 or 19, with the four winners advancing to the finals May 24-26.
“We're excited about the opportunity and in general with the NCAA expanding the tournament bracket and providing more opportunities for women's lacrosse. It just speaks to how much the sport has grown,” added Maness.
The Jacksonville Dolphins claimed the 2012 NLC title, along with several other honors including the NLC Co-Player of the Year, the Defender of the Year, the Newcomer of the Year, and four first-team and two second-team selections.
Last year, when Detroit was part of the NLC, Maness was selected as the NLC Coach of the Year in her first year with the Titans. Senior
Anna Eidem led the nation in scoring with 4.24 goals per game as UDM set a program record with eight wins on the season reaching the conference semifinals.
Detroit is familiar with Howard having been in the NLC with them since the first season of UDM women's lacrosse in 2009. Jacksonville started women's lacrosse in 2010 and immediately joined the NLC. Kennesaw State and Stetson are already members of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
