NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament 2021: Quarterfinal Bracket, Schedule, Round 1 Results
May 17, 2021
The quarterfinals for the 2021 NCAA men's lacrosse tournament are set.
After North Carolina, Rutgers, Notre Dame and Georgetown advanced past the first round Saturday, Maryland, Virginia, Duke and Loyola Maryland joined them in the quarterfinals with wins Sunday.
Here is a look at the bracket (which can be found in full at NCAA.com), quarterfinals schedule and results from Sunday's action.
Bracket
Quarterfinals Schedule
May 22
No. 1 North Carolina vs. Rutgers
No. 4 Virginia vs. No. 5 Georgetown
May 23
No. 3 Maryland vs. No. 6 Notre Dame
No. 2 Duke vs. Loyola Maryland
*all times are TBA
Sunday's Results
No. 3 Maryland def. Vermont, 17-11
No. 4 Virginia def. Bryant, 13-11
No. 2 Duke def. High Point, 16-10
Loyola Maryland def. No. 7 Denver, 14-13
Sunday was a day for mostly chalk.
Three of the four ranked teams advanced, which should only add intrigue to the later rounds.
While Maryland jumped out to a quick lead and never looked back against Vermont behind six goals from Jared Bernhardt, there was no shortage of drama in Virginia's two-goal win over Bryant.
It seemed as if the Cavaliers were in full control when they jumped out to a 6-3 lead, but the Bulldogs answered with three straight goals to tie it. Virginia responded with two straight goals to take the lead back just for Bryant to score four in a row to go up 10-8.
Undaunted, Peter Garno, Grayson Sallade, Ian Laviano, Payton Cormier and Charlie Bertrand scored five straight goals, with the last four coming in the final period to all but clinch the win.
Five different Virginia players scored two goals each in a balanced attack that will be necessary if the Cavaliers are going to make a championship run.
Fellow ACC squad Duke had much less trouble cruising to victory during Sunday's first-round slate, as it handled High Point with relative ease. Michael Sowers spearheaded the effort with four goals, while Sean Lowrie, Brennan O'Neill and Owen Caputo each found the back of the net multiple times.
Sunday saved the best game for last, as Loyola Maryland jumped out to a commanding lead against No. 7 Denver and held on for a thrilling one-goal victory.
Loyola Men's Lax @LoyolaMLAXFINAL: @loyolahounds 14, Denver 13. Sam Shafer with a career-high 16 saves, including a #SCTop10 #PLTop3 game-saving effort. Olmstead ties career-high with 5 goals, and the Hounds are headed to their third-straight @NCAALAX Quarterfinal! #gohounds pic.twitter.com/MTEK4odthH
The Greyhounds took a 9-4 lead into halftime and appeared to be well on their way toward an upset win. However, Denver started the second half with three straight goals to climb back into it and set up a back-and-forth second half.
Jack Hannah's goal with three minutes remaining cut the lead to 14-13, but Loyola Maryland's defense shut down Denver's attack the rest of the way.
Aidan Olmstead led the way with five goals for the victors.