After securing the Coastal Athletic Association’s (CAA) automatic bid to the national tournament for the third straight season, the No. 19/20 Stony Brook women’s lacrosse team will kick off its hunt for the program’s first national championship on Friday.

Then, the unseeded Seawolves (15-4, 8-0 CAA) will face the unseeded, No. 15/16 Loyola Maryland Greyhounds (13-6, 9-0 PL) in a First Round matchup. The contest will be hosted at Alumni Stadium, the home of the second-seeded, No. 2 Boston College Eagles, who received a bye. Opening draw is scheduled for 4 p.m.

This will mark Stony Brook’s 12th NCAA Tournament appearance — all consecutively — and it has yet to lose in the First Round. If that trend continues, the Seawolves will challenge Boston College — the reigning national champions — on Sunday on the same site. 

While Stony Brook earned an automatic bid, Loyola Maryland received an at-large bid after suffering an upset, overtime loss to Navy in the Patriot League (PL) title game. The Greyhounds had won their conference’s previous five championships and have won 93 consecutive regular season league matches.

This First Round clash features a pair of national powerhouses. The Seawolves rank 12th in the nation in scoring offense and sixth in scoring defense, while Loyola Maryland places ninth and 35th in those leaderboards, respectively.

Like Stony Brook, the Greyhounds are no stranger to the national stage, making their seventh straight national tournament appearance and 26th overall. Yet, they have also never captured the ultimate prize. Loyola Maryland’s closest brush with glory came in 1997, when it fell to Maryland in the championship game during the Terrapins’ run of seven straight titles. Conversely, the Seawolves’ deepest runs have ended in the Elite Eight — a stage that Stony Brook has reached four times, most recently in 2022.

These sides have played against each other three times previously, with the Greyhounds coming out on top on all three occasions. Their last meeting came in the Second Round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, when Loyola Maryland defeated the Seawolves 9-8.