Two of the country’s top college lacrosse programs – the Lehigh University Mountain Hawks and the Ohio State University Buckeyes – will face off in the fourth annual San Francisco Fall Lacrosse Classic Presented by Levi’s®,scheduled for Kezar Stadium at 2 PM on Sunday, October 21, 2012. This will be the fourth consecutive year that the Bay Area Youth Sports Foundation has hosted the only NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse competition in California. All revenue from the event will benefit a variety of innovative sports and education programs for underserved children
in the Bay Area.
Lehigh, which ended the season ranked #9 in the nation, fell to eventual national finalist University of Maryland 10-9, in an exciting first round game of the 2012 NCAA Championship Tournament in May. Lehigh knocked off four top 20 teams during its record-breaking 14-3 season, capturing the Patriot League Championship and its first tournament berth. Ohio State, ranked #18 in the nation, finished the season 8-7, falling to Fairfield in the conference semi-finals. Lehigh and Ohio State are primed for great 2013 seasons, with many returning players and strong incoming freshmen classes.
Since its inception in 2009, the Fall Lacrosse Classic has brought some of the nation’s top NCAA Division I lacrosse teams to play in San Francisco, including Johns Hopkins, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Denver, Harvard, and Brown. All games have taken place at San Francisco’s historic Kezar Stadium in front of thousands of enthusiastic lacrosse fans.
“The continuing enthusiasm that these top programs have to travel across the country to play each other underscores the significant growth of lacrosse in California,” said Colin Mistele, Event Director of the Fall Classic for the BAYS Foundation, and a two-time All-American lacrosse player from San Francisco’s University High School who went on to play Division I lacrosse at Lehigh University.
Lacrosse has been the fastest growing high school and college sport over the past dozen years. There are now more than12,000 youth lacrosse players in California, and over 350 boys and girls CIF high school teams.
According to Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese, a two-time captain and three-time All-American selection at Duke, “The sport is exploding all over the country, and especially in the state of California. We realize the impact that this event has on the growth of the sport in Northern California, and we hope we can contribute to that effort by putting on a great display of high level lacrosse along with a very talented Ohio State program.”
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