Over the weekend, the fields for the 2025 NCAA Lacrosse Tournaments were announced. Lacrosse has been a very good sport for the University of North Carolina in recent years, with the women winning national championships in 2013, 2016, and 2022, and the men also bringing home the crown in 2016.
There’s a chance for that to continue this year, as both Tar Heel teams will be in the 2025 editions for the tournament.
The women will get more of the headlines, as they enter the postseason with the #1 overall NCAA Tournament seed and a perfect 18-0 record on the season. With seven teams in the 29-team field and the top two national seeds, the ACC has been the best conference in women’s lax this year, and the Heels have been excellent in it, not only not losing, but only winning by five or fewer goals just four times.
With the top overall seed, UNC will have homefield advantage through the quarterfinals, meaning coach Jenny Levy’s squad wouldn’t have to leave Chapel Hill until the final four. Their opening opponent will be the winner of a game between Navy and fellow ACC team Clemson. The Navy/Clemson game will be on Friday, with the winner moving on to play the Tar Heels on Sunday. Carolina has already met the Tigers twice this year, winning those games by a total of 23 goals.
Should the seeds hold and the Heels move on, they would take on #8 Johns Hopkins in the quarterfinals. Their most likely final four/championship game opponents should they make it that far are #2 Boston College, #3 Northwestern, and #4 Florida. Those three teams account for all four of the five goals or fewer margins this season, with the games against the Eagles being especially close. UNC/BC has been a women’s lacrosse rivalry in recent times, and it wouldn’t be shocking if they ended up going battle again for the national title.
On the men’s side of things, UNC went 10-4 and will be the #8 overall seed for this year’s tournament. With a 3-1 ACC record, the Heels won a share of the conference regular season crown, but they fell to Duke in the ACC Tournament ahead of getting their NCAAT bid.
With the #8 seed, Carolina will get homefield advantage for their opening game, which is the second round of games in the 18-team tournament. UNC will host unseeded Richmond to open things up on Saturday.
A win in that game would likely see UNC matchup with the top overall team, #1 Colgate, which would be on the road. That being said, the Tar Heels have been plenty tested this season, having played five games against other teams in the NCAAT field.
As mentioned, the action will get underway this weekend, and continue through Memorial Day weekend at the end of the month. Best of luck to both UNC teams!