No. 8 Brown will face old coach Lars Tiffany in NCAA men's lacrosse tournament
Brown will welcome an old friend back to campus while beginning play in the men’s lacrosse NCAA Tournament.
Lars Tiffany will lead his Virginia program into Stevenson-Pincince Field for an opening matchup Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Bears will be hosting the Cavaliers, an alum and their former head coach all at once.
Brown earned the No. 8 seed in the field after capturing the Ivy League regular-season title. The Bears were rewarded with a home date against the winner of the last two tournaments contested. Virginia was crowned champion in 2019 and 2021, the most recent two of its seven crowns overall.
It’s the 15th NCAA selection for Brown in its program history and the first under coach Mike Daly. The Bears have advanced to the quarterfinals in 10 of those previous appearances and are one victory from doing so yet again. Daly is the fifth Brown coach to lead the program to a postseason berth, extending a tradition that dates to a first appearance under Cliff Stevenson in 1971.
The Bears (10-5) will be attempting to rebound after a surprising 14-9 home loss to Penn in the conference tournament semifinals Friday night. Brown was the top seed and could have captured a title and corresponding automatic berth on its home field with a pair of wins. The Bears were instead forced to sweat out a wait until the Sunday night selection show on ESPNU.
The Cavaliers (11-3) are the lone ACC representative in the field, a far cry from the six selections earned by the Ivy League. Virginia won three straight to close the regular season, including a 20-10 smashing of Lafayette on Senior Night. Offensive production spiked in that stretch for the Cavaliers, who racked up 62 goals against Quinnipiac, Syracuse and the Leopards.
Tiffany was a defenseman with Brown from 1986-90, reaching a pair of NCAA Tournaments and earning a selection to the North-South Senior All-Star Game in his final season. Stony Brook hired him as a head coach in 2005, beginning a rapid rise through the profession.
The Bears called Tiffany home ahead of the 2007-08 season, and he wasted no time building a contender on the East Side. Brown won four conference titles and reached three postseasons, with Tiffany collecting a pair of league Coach of the Year honors. The Bears advanced to their second Final Four in 2016, matching the run they managed in 1994.
Tiffany presides over a national power at Virginia. The Cavaliers claimed their most recent title in a 17-16 thriller against old rival Maryland. The Terrapins are the No. 1 seed in this field, the fourth time in the last six editions they’ve earned that designation.
Brown will attempt to become only the second No. 8 seed to reach the Final Four. The Orange pulled it off in 1999 – teams in that bracket position have dropped seven of their last 10 opening games. Virginia is bidding to become the first three-time champion since Princeton dominated the sport from 1996-98.
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Brown University is No. 8 seed in NCAA men's lacrosse tournament
