The No. 8/10 Denver Pioneers take on the fourth ranked and undefeated Loyola Greyhounds tonight in a huge match-up for both teams conference and NCAA Tournament outlooks. The ball drops at 7:00 p.m. at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium and is being broadcast live on Comcast CET and PioneerVision.
College Crosse has summed up what's at stake for both teams tonight:
Loyola can sew up the one-seed in the ECAC Tournament with the victory -- a loss to Hobart in their league finale doesn't hurt the Greyhounds on the table as they'll hold head-to-head tiebreakers against Denver, Ohio State, and Fairfield. Denver needs the win against Loyola as the Buckeyes hold a head-to-head tiebreaker against the Pioneers and there are, for the time being, one-, two-, three-, four-, and no-seed possibilities remaining down the stretch for Denver. (The low-end permutations are going to be built, in large part, on what the Stags do with their remaining schedule and may turn on each team's league closer between one another. The no-seed possibility is slim -- it requires Denver to lose out, Air Force to win out, and Fairfield to finish at least 3-3 with a win over the Pioneers -- and that probably won't happen.) Basically, the Pioneers could end up anywhere from the one-seed to the four-seed for the playoffs, but a win against the Greyhounds keeps them towards the top of all seeding scenarios, which is a nice thing to have when, you know, you're hosting the damn tournament.
After tonight Denver has one final ECAC match-up on the road against Fairfield on April 21st before their final regular season match-up in a nationally televised game against the Duke Blue Devils at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.