Virginia men's lacrosse team is scheduled to face the Cornell Big Red in the fifth annual Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic, a college lacrosse tripleheader contested inside M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on March 12 and televised on ESPNU. This will be UVa's fifth year participating in an Inside Lacrosse regular season event. This is year one of a two-year contract for the Face-Off Classic.
UVa participated in the Face-Off Classic’s inaugural event in 2007 and again in 2008, facing Syracuse both times. The Cavaliers moved on to Inside Lacrosse‘s inaugural Konica Minolta Big City Classic at Giants Stadium in 2009, facing ACC foe North Carolina. This past April, UVa helped open the New Meadowlands in the second annual Big City Classic, which featured a showdown of No. 1 Virginia vs. No. 2 North Carolina. UVa was victorious 7-5.
“We are very pleased to be returning to the Face-Off Classic for these next two years,” said Virginia head coach Dom Starsia. “Inside Lacrosse has done a great job promoting these special events and there is a level of expectation for fans that has helped the game grow since their inception. For the teams involved, the combination of professional venue, great location, television coverage and hospitality make this an easy decision. We are excited about this opportunity and look forward to another compelling game with the Ivy Champion Cornell Big Red.”
Now in its fifth year, the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic gives fans the chance to celebrate the start of another season by placing many of the nation’s top-ranked teams in the same stadium on the same day. This year the event moves to the second weekend of March, with three games scheduled at M&T Bank Stadium, also the site of the 2011 Final Four.
The event kicks off with Syracuse and Georgetown at 11 a.m. The Orange, like UVa, returns to the Baltimore event after also participating in the Big City Classic the past two seasons. UVa and fellow 2010 NCAA semifinal participant Cornell duel at 1:30 p.m., followed by locals Johns Hopkins and UMBC at 4 p.m.
Information on ticket packages as well as on-sale dates will be made available in October for the Face-Off Classic.
Virginia will release the remainder of its 2011 schedule in the near future.
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