The New York Mets announced today that they will host the first NCAA Division I lacrosse games at Citi Field and it will be on St. Patrick’s Day.
The inaugural Metropolitan Lacrosse Classic will feature the University of Michigan playing Colgate University, and the College of the Holy Cross battling the U.S. Naval Academy on Sunday, March 17, 2013 at the Mets’ new park located in Flushing in Queens.
It starts with Navy taking on Holy Cross at noon, followed by a 3 p.m. game between Michigan facing Colgate. ESPNU will telecast the Michigan-Colgate game with ESPN3 carrying the Holy Cross-Navy contest.
Tickets go on sale this Wednesday, Dec. 19 at Mets.com/Lacrosse, Tickets.com and (718) 507-TIXX.
Colgate, Holy Cross and Navy are all rivals in the Patriot League, while Michigan is making its mark in the Eastern College Athletic Conference after dominating the club level.
“Lacrosse is immensely popular in our community and we are thrilled to bring together these four prestigious universities for the first-ever lacrosse games at Citi Field,” said Dave Howard, the Mets’ Executive Vice President, Business Operations. “This high-profile event further positions Citi Field as a world-class sports and entertainment venue that has hosted a myriad of events including international soccer, large-scale concerts and festivals.”
New York has deep ties to lacrosse with New York University fielding the country’s first team in 1876, and the first intercollegiate tournament taking place at the Westchester Polo Grounds in what is now the Bronx in 1881.
Colgate completed its best season in program history in 2012, compiling a 14-4 record, advancing to the NCAA Tournament and scoring its first tournament victory on their way to the quarterfinals. The Raiders have collected 54 All-American selections with their 2012 honoree, Peter Baum, also winning the Tewaaraton Award, as the top male player in collegiate lacrosse.
Michigan completed its first season of varsity lacrosse in 2012 after capturing an unprecedented three straight national club team titles from 2008-2010. Eight Wolverines from the 2012 team earned Academic All-ECAC selections, tied with Ohio State for most in the league.
Holy Cross has won three Colonial League titles and produced five All-Americans since the Crusaders lacrosse program started in 1958. This year’s team will be led by senior James Kennedy, who was named a National player of the week last year. He was also the first Crusader ever named to the the Tewaaraton Award Watch List.
Navy has won 17 national championships and appeared in 26 NCAA Tournaments, most recently in 2009, and produced 429 All-Americans. The 2013 squad will be led by junior attackman Tucker Hall and junior long-stick midfielder Pat Kiernan, who were both named pre-season All-Americans.
Metropolitan Hospitality, the game’s promoter and producer, is Citi Field’s non-game day event company that has hosted almost 800 events since the ballpark opened in 2009. With more than 200,000 square feet of hospitality space, Citi Field can accommodate corporate meetings, holiday parties, weddings, trade shows, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs and a variety of other events.
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Posted In: College lacrosse
I will be there. With my green on!
This event looks like its gonna be awesome. I think it will be a cool expierience to have a couple games at a baseball field. The big city classic is always fun and i think this event will be a lot similar to it. I like that the game is being played in big staduims i think it gives the game more exposure and makes a regular game much more meaningful and fun.I deffinatly want to go.
This event seems awesome and the teams that are going to be in it as well. Holy cross and Navy will be a good game to watch and it will be very compettitive considering they are patriot league rivals. The michigan colgate game will also be good. Michigan will have a shot to take down colgate and show everyone what they are made of. I think holding games like this at big staduims helps get exposure to the sport and makes the games more exciting to go and watch. Im sure all these teams are excited to play infront of a big crowd.
Agreed!!!
GO BLUE!
[…] The announcement came in mid-December. […]
Yeah the matchups are not great. Maybe they can build it for the future and get some higher ranked teams next year.