April 24, 2009
BALTIMORE, Md. — Although the Vanderbilt women’s lacrosse has already completed its 2009 regular season schedule, the Commodores’ seed for the upcoming American Lacrosse Conference Tournament has not been decided.
Depending on the results of Saturday’s game at Homewood Field, the Commodores could be seeded second, third or fourth when the postseason begins next week.
A Penn State victory at Johns Hopkins would put the Nittany Lions in a three-way tie with Ohio State and Vanderbilt at 2-2 in league play. The conference would use its fourth tiebreaker — goals scored against in conference competition — to decide the three-way deadlock.
If Penn State wins but allows 14 or more goals, the Commodores would receive the No. 2 seed based on having given up the fewest goals among the tied teams. Vanderbilt would then play No. 3 seed Penn State in the semifinals.
If the Nittany Lions win and allow fewer than 14 goals, then Penn State would be the No. 2 seed. Vanderbilt would drop to the four seed based on its loss to Ohio State. The Commodores would then play Hopkins in the ALC Tournament’s opening round game.
A Johns Hopkins victory on Saturday would give Penn State a 1-3 record in conference. Ohio State and Vanderbilt would be the only teams tied for second place, with the Buckeyes taking the two seed by virtue of their head-to-head victory. Vanderbilt and Ohio State would face off in the ALC semifinals.
Following Saturday’s game, a complete schedule of the 2009 ALC Tournament, which will be hosted by Penn State in University Park, Pa., will be posted at http://vucommodores.com