NORTHFIELD, Vt.—The Norwich University men's lacrosse team has been paired with Tufts University in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament, as announced by the NCAA on Sunday evening.  The Cadets will travel to the home of the Jumbos on Wednesday, May 8 for a 4:00 p.m. meeting.

Norwich qualified for its first-ever NCAA appearance by securing the Great Northeast Athletic Conference automatic-qualifier with a 9-7 win against Mount Ida in the conference championship.  The win marked the first GNAC Tournament title and the second appearance in the championship game for the Cadets.

The Jumbos, ranked sixth in the final USILA Division-III ranking, won their fourth-straight New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) tournament title on Sunday.  Tufts won the 2010 NCAA Championship, finished as the national runner-up in 2011, and advanced to the NCAA semi-finals last season. They have compiled a 10-4 record in NCAA Tournaments overall.

Norwich has been idle since Monday, April 29 when it dropped a 16-9 loss to Castleton in non-conference play.  The loss marked the end of Norwich's 12-game winning streak that spanned the entire GNAC regular season and three-game playoff series.

This season, the Cadets have seen a majority of its offensive power come from a trio of scorers in juniors Ian Mendoza (Mount Airy, Md.) and Ian Thomas (Barrington, R.I.) and sophomore Seth Fuller (Wheaton, Ill.).  Mendoza leads the team in goals with 39 and has added five assists on the season. Thomas leads the team in points with 46 from 28 goals and 18 assists, while Fuller's team-high 19 assists combined with 26 goals ranks him second in points with 45.

A lot of the Cadets' offense is started from the face-off, where senior Nate Fortezzo (Branford, Conn.) has made his impact.  Fortezzo has one 71.9 percent of his 277 attempts on the season and ranks among the best face-off specialists in Division III.

Junior goaltender Mark Paradiso (Westford, Mass.) has also been instrumental to the Cadets' success this season.  He held league opponents to just 25 goals during the season with a 4.17 goals-against average. He recorded 53 saves and a league-leading .679 save percentage en route and was named the GNAC's Defensive Player of the Year for his efforts.

The Jumbos look to Chris Schoenhut to pace the offense.  The sophomore attack has totaled 49 goals for Tufts and has added six assists on the season.  Cole Bailey leads the Jumbos in points with 61 from a team-high 37 assists and 24 goals, while Beau Wood ranks second in scoring with 38 goals and 19 assists. Andrew Fianmengo has also scored 30 goals along with 17 assists for the team this season.

Brian Ruggerio will square up with Fortezzo at the face-off.  The senior midfielder has taken 392 attempts this season and holds a .477 winning percentage. He also leads the team in ground balls with 77.

Patton Watkins has started the majority of the games in net for the Jumbos, including in Sunday's NESCAC Championship.  Watkins holds a .559 save percentage with a 10.12 goals-against average.

The two teams will meet for the first time ever on Wednesday.  Norwich and Tufts did not play any shared opponents from the 2013 season. As a team, the Cadets average 10.62 goals per game and take 40.1 shots per game, while the Jumbos average 13.97 goals and 40.7 shots per game. 

Tufts University will provide live stats and live video for Wednesday's matchup.