Spartans Return to Lions Den for NCAA Championship

INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA Division II Men's Lacrosse Committee has selected the teams that will compete in the 2018 NCAA Division II Men's Lacrosse Championship.

The championship provides for an 8-team tournament. Four teams from each of the two regions (North and South) are selected to participate in the men's lacrosse championship. Except for the championship game, all games will be played on the campus of one of the competing teams. First round competition is scheduled for Saturday, May 12.

In the first round of the championship, the University of Tampa Spartans will be heading to Saint Leo University to take on the Lions for the third time this season. These two Sunshine State Conference foes have split earlier this season. In the first meeting, the Lions took home the 'W' with a 10-9 victory,  then most recently in the SSC Championship, the Spartans defeated the Lions 8-6. 

RELATED: Interactive bracket  | Selection show 

The first round sites and team matchups are as follows:

North Region:

(1) *Merrimack (15-1) vs. (4) NYIT (13-4)

(2) *Seton Hill (16-1) vs. (3) Le Moyne (15-1)

South Region:

(1) *Lenoir-Rhyne (16-2) vs. (4) Colorado Mesa (17-2)

(2) *Saint Leo (14-2) vs. (3) Tampa (15-4)

Note: *Denotes host institution.

The four remaining teams will play in the semifinals on Sunday, May 20. This year's finalists will advance to Foxborough, Mass. for the championship game at Gillette Stadium, which will be played at 4 p.m. Eastern time, Sunday, May 27, and shown via web stream on NCAA.com. That game will be preceded by the Division III championship at 1 p.m. Eastern time, which can also be seen on NCAA.com. The Division I semifinals and championship are Saturday, May 26 and Monday, May 28 at the same site.

For more information about the NCAA Division II Men's Lacrosse Championship, go to NCAA.com/lacrosse.