This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

SBU to Host Two Championships This Weekend

Women's lacrosse national title at stake, plus Seawolves baseball plays for America East crown.

In a short time, the Stony Brook University athletic department has risen up the ranks regionally and in some ways nationally. There's further proof of that this weekend as two championships, including the Division I women's lacrosse national title, will be decided on campus.

The festivities begin Wednesday at newly opened Joe Nathan Field, which hosts the America East Conference baseball championship. Maine plays Binghamton in game one (11 a.m.) and then the Seawolves take the field against Albany (3 p.m.). The championship game will take place either Friday at 3 or Saturday at noon, with the champ earning an automatic bid in next week's NCAA Tournament.

The lacrosse Final Four begins Friday when top-ranked Maryland plays fifth-seeded Duke, a team that includes Ward Melville grad Makenzie Hommel. In the other semifinal, second-seeded Northwestern takes on No. 3 North Carolina. The semifinal victors will clash Sunday with a national title at stake. It's the first Division I championship ever to take place on Long Island.

Find out what's happening in Three Villagewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“It’s exciting for everybody – the university, the community, our staff and the student-athletes,” Stony Brook University Athletic Director Jim Fiore said. “One thing we tried to do when I took the job here eight years ago is reach out and build a great relationship with the community and help local merchants, and we’ve been able to do that.”

Stony Brook put in a two-year bid for the women’s championship about two years ago, and since being granted the championship last year, Fiore’s staff, led by Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Administration Sue Serafini, has met weekly with the NCAA on “fine-tune and troubleshoot” everything from parking and hotels to police escorts and traffic trends. The University even accommodated the athletic department by pushing forward its main commencement to Wednesday.

Find out what's happening in Three Villagewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Last spring, Stony Brook held the men’s lacrosse national quarterfinals at LaValle Stadium, with the Seawolves bowing to top-ranked Virginia by a goal. The women’s title will be given out not only this weekend but in 2012 as well.

It wasn’t known until this past weekend, when the baseball team swept Albany at newly opened Joe Nathan Field, that the America East championship would be held locally. The Seawolves, who own the single-season record for wins at SBU with 41, will look to build on that total and qualify for the NCAAs for a second straight year.

“It’s great exposure for the community and for the university,” Fiore said. “You can’t quantify the impact of having 10,000 people from all over the country onto the campus. They’ll acknowledge that Stony Brook is a great place with beautiful facilities.

“Everybody wins – the community, the participants, it’s all positive.”

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?