Get the latest Boston sports news
Receive updates on your favorite Boston teams, straight from our newsroom to your inbox.
Your guide to the NCAA lacrosse championships at Gillette Stadium: Boston College women and Tufts men aim to defend titles
It’s the first time that the NCAA championships have been held in Foxborough since 2018.
More in college sports
The country’s best collegiate lacrosse players are coming to Massachusetts. The NCAA Division 1 men’s and women’s lacrosse championships, as well as the Division 2 and 3 men’s championships, are set to take place at Gillette Stadium over Memorial Day weekend.
It’s the first time that the NCAA championships have been held in Foxborough since 2018, and the first time the men’s and women’s Division 1 championships have been held concurrently since 2017 — also at Gillette Stadium.
The Boston College women are back in the Final Four for the eighth consecutive season, as the Eagles chase a third national title in the last five years. They’ll be joined by Northwestern and North Carolina — both championship game opponents for the Eagles over the last three years — plus Florida.
Advertisement:
Cornell, Penn State, Maryland, and Syracuse make up the men’s Division 1 field. The Division 2 men’s championship will be contested by Adelphi and Tampa, before the Tufts men look to defend their Division 3 national title against Dickinson College.
Here’s everything you need to know about the coming celebration of collegiate lacrosse in Foxborough:
NCAA lacrosse championships schedule
The Division 1 semifinals will take place on Friday and Saturday, before the championship games on Sunday and Monday. The matchups for the Division 2 and 3 title games are set.
Friday, May 23
Division 1 women’s semifinals: North Carolina vs. Florida, 3 p.m.
Division 1 women’s semifinals: Boston College vs. Northwestern, 5:30 p.m.
Advertisement:
Saturday, May 24
Division 1 men’s semifinals: Cornell vs. Penn State, 12 p.m.
Division 1 men’s semifinals: Maryland vs. Syracuse, 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 25
Division 1 women’s championship: 12 p.m.
Division 2 men’s championship: Adelphi vs. Tampa, 4 p.m.
Division 3 men’s championship: Tufts vs. Dickinson, 7 p.m.
Monday, May 26
Division 1 men’s championship: 1 p.m.
Division 1 women’s lacrosse championship preview
Boston College has become a women’s lacrosse powerhouse under Acacia Walker-Weinstein, who can lead the Eagles to a third national title this weekend.
The Eagles were often the bridesmaids early in Walker-Weinstein’s tenure, losing to Maryland in the national championship game in 2017 and 2019. BC finally got over the hump in 2021, winning its first national title by beating Syracuse, but had to settle for runner-up finishes again in 2022 (North Carolina) and 2023 (Northwestern), before getting its revenge on the Wildcats in a razor-thin title game in 2024.
The second-ranked Eagles can get that same revenge against No. 1 North Carolina this year — the Tar Heels handed BC its only two losses of the year — but will first need to get through No. 3 Northwestern again in Friday’s semifinals.
That matchup will feature the nation’s two best goal scorers, with BC’s Rachel Clark (103 goals this season) and Northwestern’s Madison Taylor (105) the only players to crack 90. Both are finalists for the Tewaaraton Award as the country’s best player, a list that also includes BC goaltender Shea Dolce and North Carolina’s sibling duo of Ashley and Chloe Humphrey.
Advertisement:
North Carolina will be a favorite to return to the national title game as the Tar Heels take a 20-0 record into this weekend. They topped the Gators, 14-9, when the teams met in February.
Division 1 men’s lacrosse championship preview
The Division 1 men’s lacrosse season comes down to four teams, with Cornell, Maryland, Penn State, and Syracuse vying for the national championship.
Top-seeded Cornell and Tewaaraton Award finalist CJ Kirst, comfortably the country’s leading goal scorer (76) and point producer (108), are searching for the program’s first national title since 1977, a stretch that has included five title-game losses (including one as recently as 2022). The Big Red will take on No. 4 Penn State, to which Cornell suffered its first loss of the season in overtime in March.
The other semifinal will pit No. 2 Maryland against No. 6 Syracuse. The Terrapins beat the Orange, 11-7, in February.
Division 2 men’s lacrosse championship preview
Long one of the dominant forces in Division 2 men’s lacrosse, Adelphi can extend its record for national championships with a ninth on Sunday, which would also see the Panthers go back to back.
Adelphi reached the final after scraping past Saint Anselm, 13-11, in the semifinals. That came just two weeks after Adelphi beat the Hawks in overtime of the Northeast-10 title game.
Advertisement:
While Adelphi chases a ninth title, the other finalist, Tampa, is after a second. The Spartans won the title in 2022 and carry a 21-0 record into Sunday’s championship.
Division 3 men’s lacrosse championship preview
The Tufts men’s team is chasing perfection, as the 22-0 Jumbos are set to defend their Division 3 national championship against Dickinson College.
Tufts shook off a fall of controversy — surrounding an offseason workout that left several players hospitalized — to hit the ground running in the spring. The Jumbos won their three NESCAC tournament games by an average of more than 11 goals, before crushing each of their NCAA Tournament opponents by at least six to return to the championship game.
Tufts will take on Dickinson, which is making its first appearance in the national championship, having never reached the final eight before this season.
History of NCAA lacrosse championships at Gillette Stadium
The home of the Patriots is no stranger to hosting top collegiate lacrosse, with this year’s championship marking the sixth time Gillette Stadium has hosted the Division 1 men’s championship, all since 2008.
It’s the second time Gillette has hosted the Division 1 women’s championships, as the two were also held concurrently in 2017. The Division 3 men’s championships have been held at the same site as the Division 1 championships since 1992, with Division 2 joining the weekend starting in 1998.
Gillette has been a successful host for the championships, with the 2008 title game between Syracuse and Johns Hopkins drawing 48,970 fans, setting a record for a Division 1 men’s final. The 2017 Division 1 women’s final at Gillette also drew a record crowd, with 19,471 attending championship weekend.
Advertisement:
The partnership has been successful enough for Gillette to be awarded not only this year’s men’s lacrosse championship, but also the men’s finales for 2026 and 2028.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com