SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Syracuse is the No. 5 seed in the 2008 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship and will host Towson in the first round on Sunday, May 11 at 3:30 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. The Orange will make its seventh appearance in the national tournament and will host a playoff game for the first time in the program’s history.



Syracuse earned the BIG EAST’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship by winning the conference tournament. The Orange has won its last nine games and has a 16-2 overall record. Towson also earned an automatic bid after defeating William & Mary, 16-7, in the championship game of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament last weekend. The Tigers are 13-5 this season.



Sunday’s game will mark the second meeting between the two teams this season. In the March 19 contest in the Carrier Dome, Syracuse scored the first 11 goals of the game on its way to a 22-5 victory against the Tigers. Overall, the Orange holds a 3-0 advantage in the series.



Tickets for SU’s first-round game will go on sale on Tuesday, May 6, at 10 a.m. at the Carrier Dome Box Office and on SUathletics.com. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students (with a valid ID) and youth ages 12 and under. Parking will be free in the Dome West lots. For more information on tickets, please call the Carrier Dome Box Office at 1-888-DOMETIX.



The Orange is one of three BIG EAST Conference squads to make the 16-team field. Georgetown earned the No. 6 seed and will take on Duke. Notre Dame also earned an at-large bid and will face No. 1 seed Northwestern in the first round. Pennsylvania is the No. 2 seed in the tournament, followed by Maryland at No. 3 and Virginia at No. 4.



The winner of the Syracuse-Towson game will take on the winner of the Virginia and North Carolina game in the second round.



Syracuse appeared in four-straight NCAA Championships from 2000-03 and again in 2005 and 2007. The Orange has an all-time record of 1-6 in NCAA Championship play. Syracuse recorded its first victory in the national tournament last season when it defeated Vanderbilt, 16-10, in the first round. The Orange lost to eventual national champion Northwestern in the quarterfinals. Syracuse has played all seven of its previous NCAA Tournament games on the road.