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For Immediate Release
ESPN PR
May 7, 2008
860-766-2000

Exclusive Coverage of the Entire NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship on ESPNU, ESPN2, ESPN and ESPN360.com -- May 10-26

Exclusive First-Round and Quarterfinal Action on ESPNU; National Semifinals and Championship Games on ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD and ESPN360.com

For the second year in a row, the ESPN networks will televise all 15 games from the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship.  Beginning this weekend, ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network, will provide exclusive coverage of all eight first-round games, May 10-11, and for the first time, will televise the quarterfinals exclusively, May 17-18.  

The NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse National Semifinals and Championship will be available in high definition on ESPN2 HD and ESPN HD, respectively, while ESPN360.com, ESPN’s sports broadband network, will also offer the final three games as a simulcast, May 24 and 26. 

To supplement the NCAA Tournament action, Inside Lacrosse TV will return on ESPN2 with a Championship preview special Tuesday, May 20, at 4:30 p.m. ET, and a season review special Wednesday, May 28, at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU.  Host Dave Ryan will be joined by four-time Johns Hopkins All-American Quint Kessenich for both shows.

Dave Cohen (play-by-play), Mark Dixon (analyst), Jack Emmer (analyst), Quint Kessenich (analyst), Melissa Knowles (reporter), Eamon McAnaney (play-by-play), Dave Ryan (play-by-play), Rob Simmelkjaer (play-by-play) and Matt Ward (analyst) will split first-round and quarterfinals commentator duties. Ryan, Kessenich and Simmelkjaer will call the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse National Semifinals and Championship from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

In 2008, ESPNU nationally televised the most Division I regular-season college lacrosse games (32). The schedule showcased top programs from across the country.

ESPNU.com has extensive online coverage of lacrosse, integrating coverage of professional, collegiate and prep lacrosse content from Insidelacrosse.com and Inside Lacrosse Magazine.

2008 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP COVERAGE ON ESPN, ESPN2 AND ESPNU

Date                             Network                                             Time (ET)                    Game

Sat., May 10

ESPNU

12 p.m.

NCAA First Round – Game 1

Denver at #7 Maryland
 

ESPNU

2:30 p.m.

NCAA First Round – Game 2

Loyola (Md.) at #1 Duke
 

ESPNU

5 p.m.

NCAA First Round – Game 3

Ohio State at #8 Cornell
 

ESPNU

7:30 p.m.

NCAA First Round – Game 4

Navy at #4 North Carolina

Sun., May 11

ESPNU

12 p.m.

NCAA First Round – Game 5

Colgate at #6 Notre Dame
 

ESPNU

2:30 p.m.

NCAA First Round – Game 6

Hofstra at #5 Johns Hopkins
 

ESPNU

5 p.m.

NCAA First Round – Game 7

UMBC at #2 Virginia
 

ESPNU

7:30 p.m.

NCAA First Round – Game 8

Canisius at #3 Syracuse

Sat., May 17

ESPNU

12 p.m.

Quarterfinal # 1 – Annapolis, Md.

 

ESPNU

3 p.m.

Quarterfinal #2 – Annapolis, Md.

Sun., May 18

ESPNU

12 p.m.

Quarterfinal #3 – Ithaca, N.Y.

 

ESPNU

3 p.m.

Quarterfinal #4 – Ithaca, N.Y.

Sat., May 24

ESPN2 HD/ESPN360.com

12 p.m.

Semifinal #1 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
 

ESPN2 HD/ ESPN360.com

2:30 p.m.

Semifinal #2 – Gillette Stadium

Mon., May 26

ESPN HD/ESPN360.com

1 p.m.

NCAA National Championship – Gillette Stadium

FIRST-ROUND COMMENTATORS

Site                                             Play-by-play                               Analysts                               Reporter

College Park, Md.

Dave Cohen

Mark Dixon

  

Durham, N.C.

Eamon McAnaney

Matt Ward

  

Ithaca, N.Y.

Rob Simmelkjaer

Jack Emmer

  

Chapel Hill, N.C.

Dave Ryan

Quint Kessenich

Melissa Knowles

South Bend, Ind.

Dave Cohen

Mark Dixon

  

Baltimore, Md.

Eamon McAnaney

Matt Ward

  

Charlottesville, Va.

Dave Ryan

Quint Kessenich

Melissa Knowles

Syracuse, N.Y.

Rob Simmelkjaer

Jack Emmer

  

QUARTERFINALS COMMENTATORS

Site                                                            Play-by-play                            Analyst                           

Annapolis, Md./Ithaca, N.Y.

Dave Ryan

Mark Dixon

 

NATIONAL SEMIFINALS AND CHAMPIONSHIP COMMENTATORS

Site                                Play-by-play               Analyst                                Reporter       

Foxborough, Mass.

Dave Ryan

Quint Kessenich

Rob Simmelkjaer

ESPNU

ESPNU was launched on March 4, 2005.  The network features extensive studio programming and live coverage of games, including college football, college basketball and other Olympic sports from over 20 Division I conferences.  The network also has a wide-ranging, long-term agreement with the NCAA calling for enhanced coverage of 22 NCAA Championships, showcasing sports from each of the three collegiate seasons. ESPNU also has re-air rights to games on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN Regional television programming.

ESPNU currently reaches 20 million homes through secured distribution agreements with Charter, Cox, DIRECTV (Channel 609), EchoStar’s DISH Network (Channel 148), AT&T, Insight Communications, Mediacom, Time Warner, Verizon, hundreds of smaller affiliates and is close to distribution agreements with many others. 

In addition, ESPNU.com, the companion to the ESPNU college sports television network, is the online destination for college sports content, including news, information, extensive online video and audio and more.                  

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