TicketsCINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati lacrosse team is scheduled to play 17 games during the 2018 season, Head Coach Gina Oliver announced today. The Bearcats, who will play 10 home games at Gettler Stadium this year, will face a pair of teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2017 (Louisville & Florida) and take on a trio of teams that were ranked or received votes in the final Inside Lacrosse Top 20 rankings on year ago (#3 Florida, #18 Denver and rv Louisville).
"We are really excited to kick off the 2018 spring schedule," Oliver said. "We have a lot of good competition on our schedule, both in and out of conference. We open up our season at home with Louisville and we are looking forward to an really competitive game. We also are very excited to be home more than away this year. We want to protect our home turf (Gettler Stadium) and we have taken a lot of pride in that in the past two years. We want to continue to bring great competition to our community and our fans. We have added future AAC opponent ECU to our schedule as well and look forward to playing them here at UC."
The Bearcats, who posted a 6-11 record in 2017 and finished eighth in the BIG EAST with a 2-7 mark, will lift the lid on 2018 with a home game February 9 (3 p.m.) against the Cardinals, who fell in the opening round of the 2017 national tournament. UC then will hit the road for a pair of games in the Carolinas, first facing Gardner-Webb (February 16) in Boiling Springs, N.C., before closing the trip at Winthrop (February 18) in Rock Hills, S.C. The Bearcats close out February by welcoming Ohio State to town for a 5 p.m. game February 26. The match with the Buckeyes will mark the first of four home games in a row as the Bearcats will also welcome to town Central Michigan (March 2), Detroit (March 5) and Campbell (March 8) with all three games set to start at 3 p.m.
Following the home stand, the Bearcats will hit the road to face Marquette in UC's final BIG EAST Conference opener as the Bearcats are set to join the AAC in the league's inaugural campaign next year. The Bearcats and Eagles will meet in Milwaukee (March 18) with the game being the first of eight-consecutive conference games in 2018. From there, the Bearcats will travel to Philadelphia to take on Temple (March 24), one day after hosting their sixth annual LAX Bash event. UC closes out March with a home contest against Georgetown (31).
There will be seven games on the slate in April with alternating away and home locations in the first six. UC opens the month with a trip to Vanderbilt on April 4 before returning home to meet Denver on April 7 at noon. The home game with the Pioneers also will see the Bearcats welcome back all former players for a 10 Year Alumni Celebration.
"The 10 years signifies a decade of this program and it is crazy to think we have been around for 10 years already," the sixth-year head coach said. "We are looking forward to welcoming back all of our alumni. There has been a solid foundation created by those alumni and we are looking to build upon that history and get better as a program. We can't wait to have a lot of our former players back on campus to celebrate the program's past, as well as its future."
The Bearcats then venture to UConn for a league game on April 13 before playing host to Florida, the defending conference champion and an NCAA second round participant, on April 18. The Bearcats head to Butler for their final road conference game of 2018 as they face the Bulldogs on April 21 in Indianapolis, leading into a two-game home stand to close out 2018. Those final two games will see the Bearcats face first-year program ECU on April 23 before playing host Villanova for Senior Day on April 29.
Once again this year, the Top 4 teams in the BIG EAST standings at the end of the regular season will play in the conference tournament, which will be played May 3 (semifinals) and May 5 (final). The event will be hosted by Florida at the Donald R. Dizney Stadium in Gainesville, Fla. For more information, visit the BIG EAST Championship site.
// 2018 LAX BASH
The program's 6th Annual LAX Bash is set for March 23 in Philadelphia, one night prior to the Bearcats facing Temple. The events allows the program to meet with alumni, family and friends on the East Coast while also serving as a fund-raiser for the program. For more information on the LAX Bash, contact Morgan Morris (morgan.morris@uc.edu) in the UCATS office.
// EXPERIENCE UC
All 10 home games in 2018 will be part of the Experience UC initiative, which is geared toward inviting the community to campus to see firsthand the great things about and surrounding the university. Experience UC includes complimentary admission for patrons attending women's basketball, lacrosse, volleyball, women's tennis, men's and women's soccer, swimming & diving and track & field home events.
// 2018 BEARCATS LACROSSE SCHEDULE
• BIG EAST Conference game; § LAX Bash (Philadelphia, March 23); # 10 Year Alumni Celebration; $ Senior Day
"We are really excited to kick off the 2018 spring schedule," Oliver said. "We have a lot of good competition on our schedule, both in and out of conference. We open up our season at home with Louisville and we are looking forward to an really competitive game. We also are very excited to be home more than away this year. We want to protect our home turf (Gettler Stadium) and we have taken a lot of pride in that in the past two years. We want to continue to bring great competition to our community and our fans. We have added future AAC opponent ECU to our schedule as well and look forward to playing them here at UC."
The Bearcats, who posted a 6-11 record in 2017 and finished eighth in the BIG EAST with a 2-7 mark, will lift the lid on 2018 with a home game February 9 (3 p.m.) against the Cardinals, who fell in the opening round of the 2017 national tournament. UC then will hit the road for a pair of games in the Carolinas, first facing Gardner-Webb (February 16) in Boiling Springs, N.C., before closing the trip at Winthrop (February 18) in Rock Hills, S.C. The Bearcats close out February by welcoming Ohio State to town for a 5 p.m. game February 26. The match with the Buckeyes will mark the first of four home games in a row as the Bearcats will also welcome to town Central Michigan (March 2), Detroit (March 5) and Campbell (March 8) with all three games set to start at 3 p.m.
Following the home stand, the Bearcats will hit the road to face Marquette in UC's final BIG EAST Conference opener as the Bearcats are set to join the AAC in the league's inaugural campaign next year. The Bearcats and Eagles will meet in Milwaukee (March 18) with the game being the first of eight-consecutive conference games in 2018. From there, the Bearcats will travel to Philadelphia to take on Temple (March 24), one day after hosting their sixth annual LAX Bash event. UC closes out March with a home contest against Georgetown (31).
There will be seven games on the slate in April with alternating away and home locations in the first six. UC opens the month with a trip to Vanderbilt on April 4 before returning home to meet Denver on April 7 at noon. The home game with the Pioneers also will see the Bearcats welcome back all former players for a 10 Year Alumni Celebration.
"The 10 years signifies a decade of this program and it is crazy to think we have been around for 10 years already," the sixth-year head coach said. "We are looking forward to welcoming back all of our alumni. There has been a solid foundation created by those alumni and we are looking to build upon that history and get better as a program. We can't wait to have a lot of our former players back on campus to celebrate the program's past, as well as its future."
The Bearcats then venture to UConn for a league game on April 13 before playing host to Florida, the defending conference champion and an NCAA second round participant, on April 18. The Bearcats head to Butler for their final road conference game of 2018 as they face the Bulldogs on April 21 in Indianapolis, leading into a two-game home stand to close out 2018. Those final two games will see the Bearcats face first-year program ECU on April 23 before playing host Villanova for Senior Day on April 29.
Once again this year, the Top 4 teams in the BIG EAST standings at the end of the regular season will play in the conference tournament, which will be played May 3 (semifinals) and May 5 (final). The event will be hosted by Florida at the Donald R. Dizney Stadium in Gainesville, Fla. For more information, visit the BIG EAST Championship site.
// 2018 LAX BASH
The program's 6th Annual LAX Bash is set for March 23 in Philadelphia, one night prior to the Bearcats facing Temple. The events allows the program to meet with alumni, family and friends on the East Coast while also serving as a fund-raiser for the program. For more information on the LAX Bash, contact Morgan Morris (morgan.morris@uc.edu) in the UCATS office.
// EXPERIENCE UC
All 10 home games in 2018 will be part of the Experience UC initiative, which is geared toward inviting the community to campus to see firsthand the great things about and surrounding the university. Experience UC includes complimentary admission for patrons attending women's basketball, lacrosse, volleyball, women's tennis, men's and women's soccer, swimming & diving and track & field home events.
// 2018 BEARCATS LACROSSE SCHEDULE
| Feb. 9 | Louisville | Gettler Stadium | 3pm ET | |
| Feb. 16 | at | Gardner-Webb | Boiling Springs, N.C. | 5pm ET |
| Feb. 18 | at | Winthrop | Rock Hill, S.C. | 12pm ET |
| Feb. 26 | Ohio State | Gettler Stadium | 5pm ET | |
| Mar. 2 | Central Michigan | Gettler Stadium | 3pm ET | |
| Mar. 5 | Detroit | Gettler Stadium | 3pm ET | |
| Mar. 8 | Campbell | Gettler Stadium | 3pm ET | |
| Mar. 18 | at | Marquette • | Milwaukee, Wis. | 12pm CT |
| Mar. 24 | at | Temple • § | Philadelphia, Pa. | 12pm ET |
| Mar. 31 | Georgetown • | Gettler Stadium | 12pm ET | |
| Apr. 4 | at | Vanderbilt • | Nashville, Tenn. | 2pm CT |
| Apr. 7 | Denver • # | Gettler Stadium | 12pm ET | |
| Apr. 13 | at | UConn • | Storrs, Conn. | 12pm ET |
| Apr. 18 | Florida • | Gettler Stadium | 12pm ET | |
| Apr. 21 | at | Butler • | Indianapolis, Ind. | 2pm ET |
| Apr. 23 | ECU | Gettler Stadium | 12pm ET | |
| Apr. 29 | Villanova • $ | Gettler Stadium | 12pm ET | |
| May 3 | vs | BIG EAST Semifinal | Gainesville, Fla. | TBD |
| May 5 | vs | BIG EAST Final | Gainesville, Fla. | TBD |
• BIG EAST Conference game; § LAX Bash (Philadelphia, March 23); # 10 Year Alumni Celebration; $ Senior Day