The 2026 DI men’s lacrosse championship runs through Saturday, May 23 semifinals at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, VA, and culminates Monday, May 25 with the title game. The 18-team, single-elimination tournament features 10 automatic qualifiers and eight a
Semifinal weekend arrives with a familiar kind of pressure in college lacrosse: one weekend can change a season’s story. For the 2026 DI men’s lacrosse championship, that moment lands on Saturday, May 23 at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, VA. The championship game follows Monday, May 25 at the same venue.
This year’s tournament is built as an 18-team, single elimination bracket. Ten teams enter with automatic qualifications, while eight more earn at-large selections. Before the full bracket takes its shape. the four lowest-ranked AQ teams play in the opening round to determine the final two spots in the first round.
The schedule is compact and unforgiving. The semifinals are set for Saturday, May 23 at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, VA. Then the championship is scheduled for Monday, May 25 at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, VA.
The field is set after the selection show. The selection show is Sunday, May 3 at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
To get to the final, the tournament unfolds in stages. The opening round takes place with the first round beginning on Saturday, May 9 and continuing through Sunday, May 10. Quarterfinals follow on Saturday, May 16 and Sunday, May 17.
The bracket itself is presented as an interactive tournament graphic, but the most immediate takeaway is what comes next: two semifinal matchups on May 23, then the championship game on May 25.
The championship history adds extra weight to the countdown. In 2025, Cornell won the national championship by beating the Maryland Terrapins 13-10. That title was the school’s first in nearly 50 years, since 1977. Cornell’s 2025 coach was Connor Buczek.
The record book goes further back, listing every DI men’s lacrosse national champion dating to 1971, including year-by-year championship scores, runner-up teams, coaches, and host or site locations.
One standout procedural note sits in the history as a reminder that not every championship page stays fixed. After the 1990 championship, the NCAA Committee on Infractions determined that Paul Gait had played in the 1990 championship while ineligible. Under NCAA rules, Syracuse and coach Roy Simmons Jr.’s 3-0 record were vacated. The NCAA does not recognize Syracuse and coach Roy Simmons Jr.’s 3-0 record. and it does not recognize Paul Gait’s 7 goals. 7 assists. or his participation in that championship.
With May 23 and May 25 now on the calendar, the tournament’s structure is clear: opening-round qualifiers settle the first-round field, the quarterfinals narrow it again, and the last two semifinal matchups set up who gets one final chance to claim the title at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, VA.
2026 DI men's lacrosse championship bracket schedule Scott Stadium Charlottesville semifinals May 23 championship May 25