Penn women to play Duke in NCAA lacrosse tournament

The Penn women's lacrosse team will play in its fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament on Sunday and despite being unseeded, the Quakers have to be pleased about the matchup.

Penn (11-5) will play at fifth-seeded Duke (13-4) just 2 weeks after defeating the Blue Devils, 13-10, in its regular-season finale at Drexel's Vidas Field. Meredith Cain, Bridget Waclawik and Caroline Bunting each scored three goals for Penn.

Penn, which won a share of the Ivy League regular-season title this year, is 2-0 against Duke in the NCAAs.

Penn is 9-6 overall in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the championship game in 2008, losing to Northwestern. In Penn's last four trips to the NCAAs, the Quakers lost to the eventual national champions.

The unseeded Quaker men (8-5) visit fourth-seeded Notre Dame tomorrow (2:30, ESPNU).

It is Penn's first NCAA appearance since 2006 and its third since 1989. It will be Penn's fifth meeting with Notre Dame and first since 2003. The Quakers finished second in the Ivy League.

Notre Dame (10-2) has lost two straight (as have the Quakers) and was the national runner-up last year to Duke.

The Villanova men (11-4) are unseeded and will visit sixth-seeded Denver on Sunday (5:15, ESPNU). The Pioneers are 13-2.

This is Villanova's second trip to the NCAA, losing in the 2009 first round to Virginia. *