Welcome to the Gameday Guide.

Every weekend during the college lacrosse season, USA Lacrosse Magazine staff will riff here on the juiciest matchups, trendiest topics, biggest storylines and hottest takes.

It’s NCAA tournament time.

The first round of NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse tournament begins today at noon. The bracketology is finished and the predictions can be thrown right out the window. With 13 games sprinkled throughout the day, we’re sure to see an upset or two (or three?) on our way to determine second-round matchups.

The second round will take place Sunday, but let’s not look too far ahead. Without further ado, it’s time to take a look at the first-round matchups.

As always, check out our TV Listings page for the entire list of games coming up.

GAMES TO WATCH
All times Eastern

All first-round games can be streamed on ESPN3.

Towson vs. (8) Stony Brook

It’s the first game of the tournament and one of the more intriguing first-round matchups. Stony Brook enters with considerably more momentum than Towson, having won 12 straight games. Towson, on the other hand, has dropped six of its last seven games.

During the Tigers’ early season hot streak, they fell to Stony Brook 10-8 in a defensive battle. Stony Brook never trailed after Towson led 2-1 early. The Stony Brook offense has evolved since then, having scored at least 16 goals in nine of the 10 games since that meeting.

Draws were an even 10-10 last time around, so that will be a key area of focus.

Fairfield vs. (4) Boston College

As excellent as Fairfield has been this season, the MAAC’s conference-only scheduling prevented the Stags from seeing another team remotely close to the level of Boston College. Facing a buzzsaw with a variety of options outside Charlotte North on offense, Fairfield’s defense will need to be a near-perfect game to stay close.

Fairfield’s offense can score, too, as the Stags boast six players with at least 21 goals and three with at least 30 goals. This balanced, consistent attack warrants constant attention from BC.

Robert Morris vs. (5) Notre Dame

A rematch of a 16-2 blowout win for Notre Dame on March 6, Robert Morris isn’t the same team the Irish thoroughly dominated early this spring. The Gandy twins have both excelled, and although the Colonials didn’t have to go through the rigors of a conference tournament to earn an automatic qualifier, they’re still an offense threat.

But Notre Dame is a force in all three phases of the game, making Chris Halfpenny’s bunch the heavy favorite.

Mount St. Mary’s vs. (7) Duke

Mountaineers senior Kaitlyn Ridenour told Justin Feil this week that her team has “nothing to lose” after making its first NCAA tournament since 2005. While the Mount’s regular-season schedule didn’t feature many juggernauts, the Mountaineers did fair reasonably well in a 10-7 loss to Towson and 10-8 loss to Navy.

There was some chatter about Duke earning the No. 7 national seed, so expect Kerstin Kimel’s bunch to come out with a fire to prove the Blue Devils deserve the seed. Defensively, Duke will need to limit three 40-goal scorers in Jordan Butler, Kate Kinsella and Alayna Pagnotta. Sara Moeller isn’t far behind with 35 of her own.

Hofstra vs. Loyola

Two stars on the attack go toe-to-toe, as Alyssa Parrella hopes to lead the Pride in the Carrier Dome against Livy Rosenzweig and Loyola.

Hofstra is battle-tested, and a 6-6 record is a direct result of tests against Boston College, Stony Brook, Drexel (twice) and James Madison. Loyola, meanwhile, has recovered nicely from an 0-2 start to win 11 straight. One of those losses was against Towson, which Hofstra beat twice. But Loyola also beat a Drexel team that the Pride lost to twice, so this one is anybody’s guess.

Rutgers vs. Drexel

This matchup is something of a barometer to determine just how good the Big Ten actually was this season. With conference-only play, Big Ten teams resorted to simply beating up on each other — making it difficult to make sense of the conference on a weekly basis.

Rutgers is hot, and there’s certainly talent in Piscataway. Even off a loss in the CAA championship game, Drexel is hot, too. This team can score and played in a difficult conference as well.

Mercer vs. (6) Florida

Florida is 120-5 all time when facing teams not ranked in the IWLCA Top 25. The Gators are balanced, ranking second nationally in scoring defense (6.78) and scoring margin (10.11). All of this is to say that Mercer will have its hands full.

But crazier things have happened. Mercer is the Cinderella of the postseason so far, knocking off the top two seeds en route to wrapping up the SoCon conference title. This upset would trump them all.

Temple vs. UMass

Caitlyn Petro is the ultimate weapon in this one. She’s the national leader in both draw controls per game (13.75) and total draws won (220) over 16 games. Bridget Whitaker is Temple’s draw leader with 4.88 per game.

Temple’s work on the draw is more of a team effort, as the Owls do win 15.12 per game — 18th-best in the nation.

But with an individual talent like Petro on the other side, someone will need to step up. She’s the spark for the No. 2 offense in the country that averages exactly 18 goals per game and leads the nation with 306 goals scored.

Johns Hopkins vs. James Madison

Shelley Klaes told Ella Brockway this week that James Madison is peaking at the right time, and she’s right. The Dukes dropped an early season game to Elon and fell off the radar for a bit, but they’re firmly back in the mix and ready to make another underdog run to an NCAA title.

Johns Hopkins also peaked at the right time, closing the regular season by winning five of six games before beating Penn State in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament. The Blue Jays then fell to Maryland 8-7 in the semifinals.

UConn vs. Virginia

Sydney Watson told Ella Brockway that this week that UConn players were somewhat surprised to be in the NCAA tournament field. With a new lease on the spring season, expect the Huskies potent transition game to come out firing.

Virginia limped into the NCAA tournament, losing six straight games. Two very good midfields will go against each other here, and the unit that’s able to take control should dictate the outcome.

Denver vs. Stanford

Stanford’s undefeated, and Denver is playing like its forgotten about its only loss, a 14-7 misstep in the season opener against Colorado. Both Denver and Stanford made it through competitive conference tournaments and are tested entering this matchup.

The X-factor here is Ali Baiocco, Stanford’s big-play attacker. She might be the most clutch player on the field. When Stanford needed her against USC in April, she scored eight goals — including the tying and winning tallies in the final 2:07.

Vanderbilt vs. Jacksonville

You can look to similar opponents to get a possible feel on how this game might go. Jacksonville beat Florida on March 13 in one of the more noteworthy upsets of the season, whereas Vanderbilt has dropped two games to the Gators this season by a combined score of 39-16.

The Commodores enter the NCAA tournament after losing four of five games to Florida and Temple.

High Point vs. Maryland

Maryland isn’t seeded for what seems like the first time in forever, but the Terrapins draw a decent matchup in the first round. High Point rolled to a Big South championship, outscoring Winthrop and Radford by a combined 41-15 margin.

The Panthers can certainly score, but they haven’t faced a defense as disciplined as Maryland’s since a 19-5 loss to North Carolina on Feb. 21. Lizzie Colson, named a Tewaaraton Award finalist on Friday, leads a Terps defense that is certainly the team’s backbone. She creates transition opportunities every game by batting down passes or playing stiff one-on-one defense, and she’s probably the most important player on the field in this one.