Central Pennsylvania Lacrosse

ESPNU will present wide-ranging coverage of the 2009 college lacrosse season, including an extensive regular-season schedule and the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship.  The networks combined will televise 45 games, including 30 regular-season contests and 15 NCAA Tournament games across ESPNU, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN360.com. Coverage will begin on ESPNU Friday, Feb. 20, when #4 Johns Hopkins will host Siena at 6 p.m. ET.  Additionally, ESPN2 will feature two regular-season men’s games in high definition, including #1 Virginia vs. #3 Maryland at noon on March, 28 and #1 Virginia vs. #7 Duke at 4 p.m. on Saturday, April, 11.

ESPNU will air games with 14 of the top 20 men’s teams according to the NIKE/IL Men’s Division I Preseason Media Poll.  The network will also feature two women’s matchups, including #11 Georgetown vs. #19 John Hopkins on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 4 p.m. and reigning NCAA champion #1 Northwestern at #19 Johns Hopkins Friday, April 17 at 7 p.m.

Other highlights include the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic that will showcase #12 Princeton vs. #4 Johns Hopkins (noon) and #7 Duke vs. #3 Maryland (2:30 p.m.) on Feb. 28 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md., as well as the inaugural Big City Classic, set to display #5 North Carolina vs. #1 Virginia (noon) and #2 Syracuse vs. #12 Princeton (2:30 p.m.) on April 4 from Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.  The Day of Rivals will pit #9 Navy vs. Army (11:30 a.m.) and #3 Maryland vs. #4 Johns Hopkins (2 p.m.) on April 11 at M&T Bank Stadium. 

In addition to the aforementioned events, every game on the ESPNU schedule will feature a ranked team, including the following top 10 matchups: #8 Georgetown vs. #3 Maryland (Feb. 21), #5 North Carolina vs. #3 Maryland (Mar. 21) and #1 Virginia vs. #4 Johns Hopkins (Mar. 21).

The 2009 ESPNU Lacrosse Season Preview Show on ESPN2 will commence the season on the ESPN networks with a one-hour preview special hosted by ESPNU anchor Lowell Galindo and lacrosse analyst Quint Kessenich on Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 3:30 p.m., while throughout the season, ESPN.com will offer extensive online coverage of lacrosse and integrated coverage of professional, collegiate and prep lacrosse content from Insidelacrosse.com and Inside Lacrosse Magazine. 

For the third year in a row, the ESPN networks will televise the complete NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship.  ESPNU will televise all eight First Round games and Quarterfinal contests (May 10 – May 17).  ESPN2 will televise the National Semifinals (May 23) and ESPN will offer the National Championship game on May 25.  ESPN360.com will simulcast the National Semifinals and Championship games.  Two days following the Championship, ESPNU will televise the Major League Lacrosse Draft for a third consecutive year, live, at 8:30 p.m. 

The commentators slated for this season’s coverage will include play-by-play announcers Dave Ryan, Rob Simmelkjaer, Allen Hopkins and Scott Garceau and analysts Quint Kessenich (Four-Time Johns Hopkins All-American), Mark Dixon (Johns Hopkins), Jack Emmer (former Army Head Coach and the NCAA's winningest DI head coach), Matt Ward (University of Virginia and Tewaaraton winner) and newcomer Stephen McElduff (former defenseman from the University of North Carolina).

-SCHEDULE FOLLOWS-

2009 ESPNU COLLEGE LACROSSE REGULAR-SEASON SCHEDULE

Date                         Time              (ET)                     Game

*Will co-exist on WMAR-TV (ABC affiliate in Baltimore)

^Tape delay

2009 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP COVERAGE ON ESPN, ESPN2 AND ESPNU

Date                     Network             Time (ET)                         Game

ESPNU

ESPNU launched on March 4, 2005. The 24-hour college sports television network features more than 550 live events annually, including college football, college basketball and Olympic sports from more than 25 Division I conferences, as well as premier high school content. The network also has a wide-ranging, long-term agreement with the NCAA for enhanced coverage of 22 NCAA Championships.

ESPNU also offers comprehensive studio programming, including live simulcasts of ESPN Radio’s The Herd with Colin Cowherd, and replays the best games of the week from ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Regional Television. The brand is also available in high definition on ESPNU HD and online at ESPNU.com. In addition, ESPNU Campus Connection, a multi-platform student-generated content initiative, was introduced in August 2007.

ESPNU is available nationwide in more than 23 million households and has long-term carriage agreements with several top 10 providers, including Charter, Cox, DIRECTV (Channel 614), DISH Network (Channel 148), Insight Communications, Mediacom, Suddenlink, and Time Warner. ESPNU is also available on Verizon FIOS TV and AT&T U-verse.