Seed

Navy earned its first seeded spot in the NCAA women's Division I lacrosse tournament and Loyola's late surge was enough for an at-large bid when the selections to the newly-expanded 26-team bracket were announced Sunday night. As expected, Maryland, the only undefeated team in Division I at 19-0, received the No. 1 seed. The Terps , like the other seven seeds, will host the first and second rounds next weekend. Defending champion Northwestern earned the No. 2 seeded with its 8-3 win over Florida in Sunday's American Lacrosse Conference championship.

Navy coach Cindy Timchal believes the combination of the Midshipmen's stellar season and the Navy-Marine Corps Stadium setting should be enough to earn Navy one of eight seeds in the NCAA Division I women's tournament when the bracket is announced Sunday night. The top eight seeds will play at home on the tournament's first weekend, May 10 and 12. The No. 12 Midshipmen, who won their fourth straight Patriot League tournament championship last Sunday, certainly have the record (16-1)

After Maryland's 11-8 win against Navy on April 5, the team improved to 8-1 and was an early favorite to earn the top seed in the NCAA tournament. Since then, the team has dropped two of its last three contests - including a 13-6 loss to Virginia as the No. 1 seed in a semifinal of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. But as analysts suggest that the No. 11 Terps are beginning to lose their grip on one of the tournament's eight seeds and a home game in the first round, coach John Tillman said he's not concerned about his team's position.

For the second time in three weeks, a somewhat surprising loss dropped Maryland out of the top five in the latest Rating Percentage Index list - also known as RPI - released by the NCAA Monday evening. Friday's 13-6 setback to unranked Virginia (7-8) caused the Terps (9-3) to slip from No. 3 in RPI to No. 7. Maryland encountered a similar fall after losing to Johns Hopkins, 7-4, on April 13 and slipping from No. 4 to No. 8. Perhaps the only positive outcome from the loss to the Cavaliers was their move up to No. 20, which gives the Terps a fourth top 20 victory.

When the calendar turns to April and May, the postseason becomes a pressing matter for those teams jockeying for a position in the NCAA tournament. For Stevenson, which is ranked No. 4 in the latest United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll, the road to the Division III NCAA tournament appears to be a one-lane thoroughfare as the Mustangs went 8-0 in the Middle Atlantic Conference and is poised to win the league tournament and the accompanying automatic qualifier. But where the team might land in the NCAA tournament is nearly as significant.

ESPN analyst Mark Dixon, who provided color commentary for No. 7 Loyola's 8-4 victory over No. 13 Johns Hopkins on Saturday, will handle play-by-play duties for the championship final of the America East tournament at Stony Brook this Saturday and then add analysis for the title game of the Ivy League tournament the next day. The former Blue Jays midfielder, who can be followed on Twitter @Dixonlacrosse, discussed No. 3 Notre Dame's candidacy for...

Loyola, Towson and UMBC learned their seeding in their respective conference tournaments, which will take place later this week. The No. 7 and reigning national champion Greyhounds (11-3) earned the No. 2 seed in the Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament. Despite finishing with an identical 6-1 league record as No. 6 Denver (11-3), the Pioneers got the top seed due to a head-to-head tiebreaker stemming from their 13-12 overtime decision against Loyola on April 13. The Greyhounds will face No. 8 Ohio State (10-3 overall and 5-2 in the ECAC)

Stiltgrass has taken over a 20-by-10-foot area of my woods and now it's getting into my lawn. I will use crabgrass pre-emergent for it on the lawn, but should I rake away the leaves and apply it in the woods? Invasive stiltgrass spreads like lightning by tiny seeds. The seeds stay alive in soil for many years able to germinate. Kill it before it makes seeds, which it does in August. In spring and summer, it is easy to pull stiltgrass - it has very little root. (Once it has formed seeds, pulled stiltgrass must be sealed in a plastic bag.)

Coach Chris Hasbrouck was pleased to see St. Mary's play with the emotion he had hoped the team would play with as it raced out to an 8-1 advantage in the first quarter en route to a 22-5 demolition of Wesley in the first round of the Capital Athletic Conference tournament on Wednesday. And the No. 3 Seahawks' reward is a return matchup with York, which edged St. Mary's, 9-8, last Saturday to gain the No. 2 seed, a first-round bye, and a semifinal contest at home. “We're glad we got there to have a chance,” Hasbrouck said Thursday morning.