The 2011 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship was the 30th 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 14–21, and the semifinal and championship rounds were played at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook, New York from May 27–29. All NCAA Division I women's lacrosse programs were eligible for this championship, and a total of 16 teams were invited to participate.
Northwestern defeated Maryland, 8–7, to win their sixth national championship, and first since 2009. This would subsequently become the sixth of Northwestern's seven national titles in eight years (2005–2009, 2011–12) as well as the seventh of the Wildcats' eight consecutive appearances in the championship game (2005–12). This was also a rematch of the previous year's final, won by Maryland.
The leading scorer for the tournament was Shannon Smith from Northwestern (22 goals). Smith was also 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 MarylandACCAutomatic2 18-12 NorthwesternALCAutomatic1 17-23 North Carolina ACCAt-large4 13-54 Florida ALCAt-large3 15-35 Duke ACCAt-large5 13-46 Loyola (MD)Big EastAutomatic7 16-27 AlbanyAmerica EastAutomatic6 17-08 James MadisonCAAAutomatic8 15-3 Boston College ACCAt-large14 12-6 Dartmouth Ivy LeagueAt-large15 11-4 MassachusettsAtlantic 10Automatic9 17-2 NavyPatriot LeagueAutomatic23 15-5 Penn Ivy LeagueAt-large11 11-5 PrincetonIvy LeagueAutomatic12 11-6 StanfordMPSFAutomatic10 16-2 Virginia ACCAt-large13 9-8
Tournament bracket
* Host institution
All-tournament team Emma Hamm, Duke Mollie Mackler, Duke Brandi Jones, Maryland Sarah Mollison, Maryland Katie Schwarzmann, Maryland Corey Donohoe, North Carolina Laura Zimmerman, North Carolina Erin Fitzgerald, Northwestern Brianne LoManto, Northwestern Colleen Magarity, Northwestern Shannon Smith, Northwestern (Most outstanding player) Taylor Thornton, Northwestern
See also NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse Championship NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship
References