The Marquette Golden Eagles will host the first NCAA tournament game played in Wisconsin after clinching the six seed in this year’s road to Philadelphia.
No easy task for the Golden Eagles as University of North Carolina, one of four ACC teams in the tournament, rolls into Valley Fields for faceoff, Saturday, May 14, 1:30 p.m. Central Time.
North Carolina (8-6) makes its 31st appearance in the NCAA tournament, looking to hoist the trophy for the fifth time in school history. This is only North Carolina’s fourth time as an unseeded team.
Marquette (11-4) comes in having earned an automatic bid after capturing the BIG EAST conference title knocking off defending champion Denver University 10-9, snapping the Pioneers’ 22-home game win streak.
Junior attackman Ryan McNamara leads the Golden Eagles offensively with 38 goals and 16 assists—both statistics are Marquette single season records.
University of North Carolina is led by Steve Pontrello who tallied 39 goals and 14 assists this season for the ‘Heels. Don’t let UNC’s record fool you, they are 3-1 against tournament teams including a one goal loss to Denver early this season. Wins over Duke, Richmond, and Notre Dame are worthy victories.
The winner of Saturday‘s meeting will travel to Columbus, Ohio to face the winner of Notre Dame/Air Force. That game will air on Espn2.
