Women’s lax team earns at-large NCAA tourney bid

The women's lacrosse team is one of 29 teams that will compete in the NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship tournament, which begins Friday, May 10. The 13-4 Quakers, the ninth-ranked team in the country, lost to Yale 10-9 in double overtime in Sunday's Ivy League Tournament Championship Game, but earned an at-large NCAA bid.

Penn will be a No. 8 seed and host a four-team regional at Franklin Field featuring Richmond, Duke, and Loyola of Maryland. The Red & Blue take on 13-5 Richmond at 1 p.m. on Friday; Loyola and Duke play at 4 p.m. The victors will clash in the Second Round on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Franklin Field. The winner will advance to the quarterfinal round. The Quakers beat Loyola, the eighth-ranked team in the country, 13-6 on April 17.

Key to victory for Penn will be the play of the fearsome foursome of fourth-year attacker Niki Miles, third-year midfielder Anna Brandt, fourth-year midfielder Aly Feeley, and fourth-year defender Izzy Rohr. All four were First-Team All-Ivy selections; Miles, Brandt, and Rohr were unanimous selections. Rohr was also named Ivy League Defender of the Year.

Nationally, the Quakers are ranked eighth in the country in caused turnovers per game (10.47), 10th in scoring defense (8.76 goals per game), 16th in shots per game (32.94), and 20th in draw control percentage (.580).

The Red & Blue played several NCAA tournament teams during the regular season. In addition to Loyola, they played Michigan (a 6-5 loss), Johns Hopkins (an 11-10 win), Drexel (an 11-8 win), Princeton (a 14-9 loss; an 18-14 win in the Ivy tourney), Yale (a 16-8 loss), and Maryland (a 13-9 win). Maryland was ranked No. 1 in the country when Penn beat them, marking the first time the Quakers defeated a No. 1-ranked team in 16 years.

Last season, the Red & Blue advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA tournament before falling to Boston College.