HOBOKEN, N.J. (May 3, 2018) – The No. 24 Stevens Institute of Technology women's lacrosse team has earned the #1 seed in the Empire 8 Tournament and with it the right to host the league's season-ending tournament this weekend on May 5 & 6. The winner of the four-team event will earn the league's automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship.
 
Joining the Ducks in Hoboken will be #2 seed and national No. 20 Saint John Fisher College, #3 Nazareth College and #4 seed Utica College.
 
Stevens will take on Utica in the first semifinal at 11 a.m. on Saturday, with the Cardinals and Golden Flyers clashing in the other semifinal at 2 p.m. The winners will meet for the Empire 8 Women's Lacrosse Championship Game at noon on Sunday.
 
Stevens is also hosting the Empire 8 Men's Lacrosse Championship Game at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday featuring the Ducks hosting St. John Fisher College.
 
Tickets for all games are $5 for adults, $3 for students, seniors and children under 12.
Stevens ID holders and children under 3 are free.
 
All three women's games will be broadcast at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/stevens/ and live stats will be available at http://sidearmstats.com/stevens/wlax/.
 
Courtesy of Empire 8 Conference
Tournament History | Past E8 Champions
 
About (#1) Stevens:
Overall Record: 13-4
Conference Record: 8-0
Last E8 Tournament Appearance: 2017
Last Conference Championship: 2011
Stevens outscored conference opponents 143-31 this season
 
About (#2) St. John Fisher:
Overall Record: 15-2
Conference Record: 7-1
Last E8 Tournament Appearance: 2017
Last Conference Championship: 2017
 
About (#3) Nazareth:
Overall Record: 11-5
Conference Record: 6-2
Last E8 Tournament Appearance: 2017
Last Conference Championship: 2006
 
About (#4) Utica:
Overall Record: 10-6
Conference Record: 5-3
Last E8 Tournament Appearance: 2006
Last Conference Championship: None
 
The Empire 8 will employ a four team tournament format for the 15th straight year. Prior to the 2004 tournament, the E8 champion was determined based on the regular season finish.
 
Three of the four teams that qualified for the tournament last year, return again this year. 
 
The tournament has played out according to seeding twice (2004 and 2005).
 
Stevens will serve as the No. 1 seed for third time in history and first time since 2011.
 
The #1 seed is 10-4 in the semifinal game of the tournament. #2 seed (10-4), #3 seed (4-10), #4 seed (4-10).
 
The #1 seed has won the conference championship four times (2004, 2005, 2006, 2011).
 
The #2 seed has won the title five times (2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015)
 
The #3 seed has won the title once (2016).
 
The #4 seed has won the title three times (2008, 2009, 2017).
 
Stevens has made the conference tournament each year since joining the Empire 8 in the 2007-08 season and won the championship in 2010 and 2011.
 
St. John Fisher is the six-time defending champion and looking for its ninth title in program history.
 
Nazareth won the E8 championship in 2005 and 2006.
 
Utica returns to the postseason for the first time since 2006. The Pioneers are looking for their first postseason win.
 
Stevens is 6-8 all-time in the tournament with a 1-5 mark against Fisher and 1-0 record against Nazareth. The Ducks have never played the Pioneers in the post-season.
 
Fisher is 16-4 in the post season, including a 3-1 record against Nazareth and 5-1 against Stevens.  The Cardinals currently have a 14 game win streak in the conference tournament.
 
Nazareth is 6-12 all-time in tournament games including 1-3 against Fisher, 0-1 against Stevens and 1-0 against Utica.  The Golden Flyers last won an E8 Tournament game in 2007.
 
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