CHARLOTTESVILLE - As expected, the University of Virginia men's lacrosse team will open the NCAA tournament at home.

U.Va., seeded No. 2 in the 16-team field, hosts Maryland-Baltimore County at Klockner Stadium at 5 p.m. Sunday. ESPNU will televise the first-round game.

Both teams are 12-3. They haven't met since 1996, when the Cavaliers romped 20-9. U.Va. leads the series 12-2.

UMBC rallied from nine goals down Saturday to stun Albany 14-13 in the America East championship game. The Retrievers have won 11 consecutive games.

The Virginia-UMBC winner will meet Maryland (9-5) or Denver (10-6) in the second round May 17 at Annapolis, Md.

This marks the second year in a row that U.Va. enters the NCAAs seeded No. 2. A season ago, Delaware stunned Virginia, the defending NCAA champion, 14-8 in a first-round game at Klockner Stadium.

"I could understand what happened last year in the first round with Delaware, but I think it sticks in everybody's craw a little bit, and I think the players are anxious for the opportunity," Cavaliers coach Dom Starsia said last night. "I think we've all been waiting to get back to this time of year, which is the start of getting ready for the playoffs."

Duke, which has beaten Virginia twice this season, is the NCAA tourney's No. 1 seed. The only team to beat Duke this year, Georgetown, did not make the field, which includes three representatives from the Great Western Lacrosse League: Notre Dame, Ohio State and Denver.

"I think it does speak to the growth of the game," Starsia said of the GWLL's rise.