The 2010 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship was the 29th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of Division I NCAA women's college lacrosse. The first two rounds of the tournament were played at the home fields of higher-seeded teams from May 15–22, and the semifinal and championship rounds were played at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Maryland from May 28–30. All NCAA Division I women's lacrosse programs were eligible for this championship, and a total of 16 teams were invited to participate.
Maryland defeated Northwestern, 13–11, to win their tenth national championship, and first since 2001. Maryland's win ended Northweastern's streak of five consecutive national titles (2005–09). Nonetheless, this would subsequently become the sixth of the Wildcats' eight consecutive appearances in the championship game (2005–12).
The leading scorer for the tournament was Shannon Smith from Northwestern (20 goals). Caitlyn McFadden from Maryland was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Tournament field A total of 16 teams were invited to participate. 9 teams qualified automatically by winning their conference tournaments while the remaining 7 teams qualified at-large based on their regular season records.
Play-in games
Teams Seed School Conference Berth type RPI Record1 MarylandACCAutomatic1 18–12 NorthwesternALCAutomatic2 17–13 North Carolina ACCAt-large3 15–24 GeorgetownBig EastAutomatic5 13–55 James MadisonCAAAutomatic8 16–26 Virginia ACCAt-large6 13–57 Duke ACCAt-large4 13–58 PennIvy LeagueAutomatic9 14–3 Boston U.America EastAutomatic26 11–8 MaristMAACAutomatic46 10–7 NavyPatriot LeagueAutomatic27 17–3 Notre Dame Big EastAt-large12 11–6 StanfordMPSFAutomatic13 15–5 Syracuse Big EastAt-large10 13–6 Towson CAA At-large11 13–4 Vanderbilt ALCAt-large7 12–5
Tournament bracket
* Host institution
All-tournament team Kari Ellen Johnson, Maryland Caitlyn McFadden, Maryland (Most outstanding player) Sarah Mollison, Maryland Katie Schwarzmann, Maryland Karissa Taylor, Maryland Corey Donohoe, North Carolina Laura Zimmerman, North Carolina Katrina Dowd, Northwestern Shannon Smith, Northwestern Danielle Spencer, Northwestern Liz Hogan, Syracuse Halley Quillinan, Syracuse
See also NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse Championship NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship
References