M. Lacrosse Preparing to Face Virginia in NCAA Elite Eight

The Harvard men's lacrosse team will travel to Johns Hopkins this weekend for their big matchup with the University of Virginia in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship. This is Harvard's fourth trip to the Big Dance, and hopefully, will be the most fruitful.

The Crimson comes into the game as a clear underdog. However, Harvard has been surprising teams all year, so beating Virginia is simply the next step in a logical progression.

The 10,000 men of Harvard gained victory in an "upset" over the Flying Dutchmen of Hofstra. The Dutchmen were seeded sixth in the tournament, while Harvard was only ranked 11th, even after compiling a 9-2 record with one of those losses being at the hands of top-seeded Princeton.

There is no transitive property in NCAA lacrosse, but the Crimson are now fully aware that they can hang with the big boys. And Virginia definitely falls into that category, as they are the only team that defeated mighty Princeton this season.

A Harvard victory over Virginia would clearly be an upset, but by no means is it out of the question. The novelty of being in the tournament has worn off, so now the Crimson can focus on playing well and keeping their eight-game winning streak alive.

Johns Hopkins should provide a lively atmosphere for Sunday's matchup. Not only is the stadium less than a three-hour drive from the campus of Virginia, but immediately following the Harvard-Virginia game, Hopkins and Maryland square off. Hopkins students will probably find time between beers to head over to the stadium and Terp fans have only a half-hour commute to get to Baltimore.

The jam-packed stadium will surely inspire the Crimson. However, they have been playing inspired lacrosse all season. Fittingly, their stellar play is now starting to be acknowledged--if not by the tournament selection committee, at least by the coaches of the Ivy-League.

The Crimson had two first-team All-Ivy selections, co-captain Mike Eckert, who also earned Co-Player of the Year Honors, and co-captain Chris Wojcik, and three second-team picks too (co-captain Tim Browne, senior defenseman Jeremy Linzee, and sophomore attackman Mike Ferrucci).

It is a great surprise to many, but the Harvard Crimson is a serious contender for this year's lacrosse championship.

Harvard's many offensive weapons will surely be open firing on the Cavaliers of Virginia this Sunday.

Hopefully, more Crimson than Cavalier shots will hit the target, and the Harvard bandwagon will roll-on to College Park.