West Babylon, N.Y. - With the conclusion of regular season play, the brackets have been finalized for the East Coast Conference Men's and Women's Lacrosse Championships.
The women's tournament, with a new format that sees six teams in the bracket, will start the week full of games with the first round on Tuesday, May 1. Semifinals for the men will then take place on Wednesday, May 2, followed by the women's semifinals on Thursday, May 3. All first round and semifinal contests will be held on the campus sites of the higher seeds. The championship games of both tournaments will hosted by NYIT on Saturday, May 5.
Men's Lacrosse
Defending ECC Champion, NYIT (11-4 overall, 6-0 ECC), went unbeaten through the conference portion of their schedule for the second straight season to claim the championship's top seed. This is fourth time in five seasons the Bears have earned at least a share of the regular season title.
NYIT will take on No. 4 seed Molloy (9-6, 2-4 ECC) in the semifinals. Molloy earned the final spot in the tournament with a win over Roberts Wesleyan on the final day of the regular season. The Lions are making their second appearance in the tournament's five year history and the first since 2015. NYIT won the regular season meeting between the two schools by a 13-9 margin.
The other semifinal will feature No. 2 LIU Post (9-4, 5-1 ECC) hosting No. 3 Mercy (10-4, 4-2 ECC). The two schools will play each other for the second consecutive game after a matchup in their regular season finales. The Pioneers won that matchup that gave the winner the No. 2 seed and home field advantage in the semifinal by a score of 11-5.
LIU Post is attempting to win their fourth title in five seasons, while Mercy, who advanced to last season's final, are seeking their first-ever ECC championship.
Women's Lacrosse
Three-time defending ECC Champion, LIU Post (12-5, 8-0 ECC), ran their conference winning streak to 23 games to claim their fifth regular season championship in the past six seasons and the tournament's No. 1 seed. By earning the top seed, the Pioneers earn a first round bye to the semifinals.
LIU Post will take on the winner of the first round matchup that will see No. 4 Molloy (10-7, 5-3 ECC) host No. 5 Roberts Wesleyan (9-8, 3-5 ECC). The Lions and Redhawks will battle for the second game in a row after wrapping up the regular season against each other. Molloy, who is back in the tournament after a one year hiatus, won that matchup to clinch the No. 4 seed by a score of 16-12. Both Molloy and Roberts, who is back in the field for the second straight season, are in search of their first-ever win in the ECC Championship.
Mercy (13-3, 7-1 ECC) is back in the field for the third straight season and will play their first ECC Championship home game after earning the No. 2 seed and a first round bye.
The Mavericks will face either No. 3 NYIT () or No. 6 St. Thomas Aquinas () in the semifinals. NYIT makes their second straight tournament appearance, while St. Thomas Aquinas ends a two year playoff drought for their third trip in five seasons to the ECC Championship. NYIT was victorious, 16-6, in the regular season matchup between the schools back in early March.
All games during the championship will be broadcast live on the ECC Network website and the ECC Network OTT app on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, and Roku. To read Twitter updates throughout the tournament, follow @ECCSports. To see highlights during the championships games, follow @ECCSportsNet on Twitter. Tournament recaps, live stats, box scores and all other pertinent tournament information will also be available on www.eccsports.org at the tournament central web pages.
2018 East Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship
Semifinals - Wednesday, May 2
3:00 p.m. - No. 3 Mercy at No. 2 LIU Post
4:00 p.m. - No. 4 Molloy at No. 1 NYIT
Final - Saturday, May 5 at NYIT
3:00 p.m. - MER/LIUP vs. MOL/NYIT
2018 East Coast Conference Women's Lacrosse Championship
First Round - Thursday, May 1
4:00 p.m. - No. 6 St. Thomas Aquinas at No. 3 NYIT
7:00 p.m. - No. 5 Roberts Wesleyan at No. 4 Molloy
Semifinals - Thursday, May 3
12:00 p.m. - STAC/NYIT at No. 2 Mercy
3:00 p.m. - RWC/MOL at No. 1 LIU Post
Final - Saturday, May 5 at NYIT
12:00 p.m. - STAC/NYIT/MER vs. RWC/MOL/LIUP