2021 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Bracket

OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- For the third time in program history, the Christopher Newport men's lacrosse team will take part in the NCAA Tournament as the ninth-ranked Captains earned an at-large bid to the national playoffs and will open up the postseason on May 15 at 3 p.m. with a first-round test against Endicott at Stevenson University's Mustang Stadium in Owings Mills, Maryland.
 
Locking up one of the two at-large bids available in 2021, the Captains enter the postseason with an 11-5 record. The squad will take on Endicott, who earned an automatic bid after finishing the regular season with a 12-2 record and the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship.
 
The winner of Saturday's game will advance to the second round on May 16 for a date with the survivor of a first-round battle between Stevenson and Kean. Stevenson nabbed the other at-large bid after finishing with an 8-1 record, while Kean earned an automatic berth after claiming the Colonial States Athletic Conference title with a 10-1 ledger.
 
Christopher Newport previously competed in the NCAA Tournament in 2013 and 2018.
 
This season, the Captains advanced to the Coast-to-Coast Conference Championship for the first time in school history before bowing out to No. 3 Salisbury, 12-9, in a hard-fought title bout. That was one of the squad's six contests against NCAA Tournament participants this season. In addition to three match-ups with Salisbury, Christopher Newport also had two showdowns with Lynchburg, who claimed the ODAC championship, and a single clash with Colorado College, who earned the nation's lone Pool "B" bid to the tournament.
 
The Captains feature a roster that includes nine All-League performers, including Coast-to-Coast Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year Dylan Rice. The senior star leads the team with 39 goals, which ranks sixth on the program's all-time single-season charts. He is also one of 10 current players who saw game-action during the team's last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2018.
 
Of the 10 veterans with postseason experience, four earned starts during the 2018 tournament. Along with Rice, Jackson Deal, Will Stockhausen, and Max Wayne started both games as freshmen during the program's last playoff run and are now back for another shot as seniors in 2021.
 
Additional information on Saturday's game will be available later this week on CNUsports.com.
 
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