The North Carolina men’s lacrosse team has received the No. 8 seed in the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship and will play host to Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament champion Maryland Sunday at 1 p.m. in the first round of the tournament at Fetzer Field. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN.

North Carolina (10-5) is coming off a 9-8 overtime victory against third-ranked Notre Dame on Friday night at Fetzer Field. It was a win which not only clinched a berth in the field for the Tar Heels but also earned a home field in the first round of the tournament. Maryland (10-4) won the ACC Tournament championship two weekends ago, beating Duke 11-9 in the championship match.

Carolina and Maryland played twice this season, splitting the two games. UNC won 11-6 in College Park, Md., on March 26. The Terps avenged that loss with a 7-6 victory over the Tar Heels in the ACC Tournament semifinals on April 22 in Durham, N.C. The Tar Heels led that game 6-2 going into the fourth quarter before the Terps outscored Carolina 5-0 in the final quarter to emerge with the win.

Tickets will be on sale on TarHeelBlue.com in the Ticket Center. Gates on Sunday will open at 11:30 a.m. and tickets will be on sale at the Carmichael Arena ticket office.

UNC will be hosting a first round game for the fifth successive year. The last time the Tar Heels were a No. 8 seed they defeated Navy 12-8 in the NCAA first round in 2007. This will be the 26th NCAA Tournament appearance for UNC. The Tar Heels are 27-21 all-time in NCAA play.

– NEWS RELEASE –