Loyola (Maryland) advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA men’s lacrosse championship for the second time in five years.
Brown advanced for the second time.
Led by senior Kylor Bellistri’s six points on four goals and two assists, the fifth-seeded Bears beat Navy 11-10 on Saturday to punch their ticket to the national semifinals for first time since 1994. It was Brown’s first appearance in the quarterfinals since 1995.
“This is a great day for Brown University and for the men of Brown lacrosse,” head coach Lars Tiffany told the Providence (R.I.) Journal. “Something we strive to do is just continue to play. The goal isn’t a Final Four or an Ivy League championship. It’s just to keep playing. We’re having so much fun. Our style is to be as aggressive and as fast, and a bit chaotic, as possible.”
Brown played without Dylan Molloy, the nation’s third-leading scorer with 3.53 goals per game and front-runner for the the Tewaaraton Award. The Ivy League Player of the Year was sidelined by a broken right foot.
The Bears (16-2) play No. 1-seeded Maryland (16-2) at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday in Philadelphia.
Maryland beat Syracuse, 13-7, in the quarterfinals.
Seventh-seeded Loyola (14-3) faces North Carolina in the first semifinal at noon.
The Greyhounds (above) advanced to the Final Four for the first time since winning the national championship in 2012, beating Towson 10-8 on Saturday. Pat Spencer and Zack Sirico each had three goals and an assist.
The unseeded Tar Heels (10-6) knocked off No. 3 Notre Dame, 13-9, to earn their first semifinal berth since 1993.