The second annual ESPNU Warrior Classic, a men’s college lacrosse doubleheader, will be played Saturday, April 23, at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn.
The doubleheader will feature Massachusetts vs. Hofstra in the first game at 4 pm ET, followed by Rutgers vs. Syracuse at 6:30 p.m. Both games will be televised live on ESPNU. Tickets will go on sale at a later date.
Hofstra and Syracuse both reached the NCAA Championship in 2010. The Orange won the 2008 and 2009 NCAA titles. Massachusetts was ranked as high as No. 9 while earning an 8-6 record. Rutgers finished with a 6-8 mark.
“We are excited to be playing in the ESPNU Warrior Classic at Rentschler Field this year, “ Hofstra coach Seth Tierney said. “The opportunity to play a key CAA game and a big rival in UMass on ESPNU is greatly welcomed and appreciated. The Hofstra-UMass series has been a great rivalry with many contests decided by a goal or two. We thank ESPNU and Warrior Lacrosse for putting on this great day of lacrosse in Connecticut.”
“UMass and the men’s lacrosse program are excited to be a part of the ESPNU Warrior Classic once again in 2011,” said Massachusetts coach Greg Cannella. “The event was very well run and great to be a part of for us. Our game with Hofstra, a CAA game, hopefully will draw fans from all over New England and New York to Rentschler Field. ESPNU continues to support college lacrosse regionally and nationally, which is greatly appreciated by all of us here at UMass.”
“We’re excited to be part of this event,” said Syracuse head coach John Desko. “ESPNU and Warrior did a tremendous job of getting it off the ground last season. It’s great exposure for the sport to have two more games on national television. On the field, you have four good teams going at it. For us, it’s an important conference game against Rutgers so we’re looking forward to it.”
“We appreciate the opportunity ESPN is providing us to play in the ESPNU Warrior Classic,” said Rutgers head coach Jim Stagnitta. “The chance to be part of this event against an opponent like Syracuse will be a great experience for our players, not to mention the exposure it will provide for our program. We have a long history of exciting games against Syracuse and look forward to representing the BIG EAST Conference in this event.”
In the inaugural ESPNU Warrior Classic, Denver defeated Fairfield and Massachusetts defeated Georgetown on April 24 at Rentschler Field.
ESPNU has been televising NCAA lacrosse matches since the first week the network was launched in March 2005.
ESPN Regional Television/Event Ownership
The nation’s largest syndicator of collegiate sports programming, ESPN Regional Television (ERT) annually produces more than 1,000 telecasts of sporting events. Programming includes football, basketball, NCAA events, golf and NHRA events accounting for more than 2,200 live and/or original hours of programming. In addition to event ownership, ERT is the production headquarters for ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network; syndication rights-holder and producer of national, regional and local shows for college conferences (e.g. – SEC, BIG EAST, Big 12, Mid-American, WAC).
ESPN Regional Television markets and/or owns several sporting events, including collegiate football events: the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl St. Petersburg; Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, Texas); Birmingham Bowl; MAACO Bowl Las Vegas; New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl (Honolulu); Texas Bowl (Houston); the MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney (Orlando, Fla.); and The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards; collegiate basketball events: the 76 Classic (Anaheim, Calif.); Cancun Governor’s Cup; Charleston Classic (S.C.); DIRECTV SEC/BIG EAST Invitational; Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Old Spice Classic (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); Honda Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan); Lane Furniture All-College Basketball Classic (Oklahoma City) and BracketBusters; as well as the ESPNU Warrior Classic (Lacrosse) and the ESPN National Golf Challenge presented by Callaway. For more information, visit ESPNPlus.com.
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Media Contacts: Charley Green, Media Coordinator, 214-734-8028, [email protected]; Rachel Margolis, ESPN, 860-766-2798 or [email protected]
