The undefeated University of Pittsburgh has received the number one seed in the Division I bracket of the 2019 US Lacrosse Women’s Collegiate Lacrosse Associates (WCLA) National Championships, while Utah State University earned the No. 1 seed in the Division II bracket.
The WCLA National Championships showcase the nation’s premier non-varsity collegiate teams and will be played May 8-11 at the Princess Anne Athletic Complex and Sportsplex in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The Division I field features 16 teams, while the Division II tournament consists of 12 teams. Both tournament fields are comprised of a combination of teams earning automatic qualifiers as league champions and teams earning at-large berths.
Pittsburgh, 15-0, is making its 13th overall and seventh straight appearance in the WCLA championship tournament. The Panthers won their only WCLA title in 2014, and enter this year’s tournament as the automatic qualifier and champion from the Women's Collegiate Lacrosse League (WCLL).
BYU (12-1) received the number two seed after winning the Rocky Mountain Women’s Lacrosse League (RMWLL) title. The Cougars finished as national runners-up in 2018 and are making their eighth overall tournament appearance. UCLA (9-3) is seeded third and San Diego State (11-1) is the number four seed.
In the Division II bracket, Utah State earned the top seed for the first time. The Aggies are 9-2 overall and were champions of the RMWLL. Two-time champion University of Denver Club is the number two seed after finishing as the RMWLL’s runner-up. St. Thomas, one of two undefeated D-II teams, received the number three seed, with defending champion Loyola University Maryland seeded fourth.
The WCLA features 230 Division I teams and Division II teams that compete under the US Lacrosse umbrella. The annual WCLA National Championship began in 2001 with a Division I tournament. The Division II championship was added in 2010.
Selections for the field are based on a variety of criteria, including: overall record, record versus ranked teams, results versus common opponents, quality wins/quality losses, head-to-head results, conference playoff performance, final conference standings, and more.
Both the D-I and D-II national semifinal and championship games on May 10 & 11 will be available for viewing via free streaming on Lax Sports Network.
Harrow Sports serves as the official event partner for the 2019 US Lacrosse WCLA National Championships, while US Lacrosse’s national partners, Motive Pure, Pearl by Guardian, Nationwide, Impact Canopy, Krossover, SISU and Sports Performance Tracking provide additional event support.