# 2010 NCAA Division I women's lacrosse tournament

The 2010 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship was the 29th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of Division I NCAA women's college lacrosse. The first two rounds of the tournament were played at the home fields of higher-seeded teams from May 15–22, and the semifinal and championship rounds were played at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Maryland from May 28–30. All NCAA Division I women's lacrosse programs were eligible for this championship, and a total of 16 teams were invited to participate.
Maryland defeated Northwestern, 13–11, to win their tenth national championship, and first since 2001. Maryland's win ended Northweastern's streak of five consecutive national titles (2005–09). Nonetheless, this would subsequently become the sixth of the Wildcats' eight consecutive appearances in the championship game (2005–12).
The leading scorer for the tournament was Shannon Smith from Northwestern (20 goals). Caitlyn McFadden from Maryland was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

## Tournament field

A total of 16 teams were invited to participate. 9 teams qualified automatically by winning their conference tournaments while the remaining 7 teams qualified at-large based on their regular season records.

### Play-in games

| May 8 | May 8 | May 8 |
| | Navy (Patriot, 16–3) | 12 |
| | Sacred Heart (NEC, 14–4) | 2 |
| May 8 | May 8 | May 8 |
| | Stanford (MPSF, 14–5) | 15 |
| | Massachusetts (A-10, 10–9) | 12 |

### Teams

| Seed | School | Conference | Berth type | RPI | Record |
| 1 | Maryland | ACC | Automatic | 1 | 18–1 |
| 2 | Northwestern | ALC | Automatic | 2 | 17–1 |
| 3 | North Carolina | ACC | At-large | 3 | 15–2 |
| 4 | Georgetown | Big East | Automatic | 5 | 13–5 |
| 5 | James Madison | CAA | Automatic | 8 | 16–2 |
| 6 | Virginia | ACC | At-large | 6 | 13–5 |
| 7 | Duke | ACC | At-large | 4 | 13–5 |
| 8 | Penn | Ivy League | Automatic | 9 | 14–3 |
| | Boston U. | America East | Automatic | 26 | 11–8 |
| | Marist | MAAC | Automatic | 46 | 10–7 |
| | Navy | Patriot League | Automatic | 27 | 17–3 |
| | Notre Dame | Big East | At-large | 12 | 11–6 |
| | Stanford | MPSF | Automatic | 13 | 15–5 |
| | Syracuse | Big East | At-large | 10 | 13–6 |
| | Towson | CAA | At-large | 11 | 13–4 |
| | Vanderbilt | ALC | At-large | 7 | 12–5 |

## Tournament bracket

| First Round Campus sites May 15–16 | First Round Campus sites May 15–16 | First Round Campus sites May 15–16 | Quarterfinals Campus sites May 22 | Quarterfinals Campus sites May 22 | Quarterfinals Campus sites May 22 | Semifinals Johnny Unitas Stadium Towson, MD May 28 | Semifinals Johnny Unitas Stadium Towson, MD May 28 | Semifinals Johnny Unitas Stadium Towson, MD May 28 | | Finals Johnny Unitas Stadium Towson, MD May 30 | Finals Johnny Unitas Stadium Towson, MD May 30 | Finals Johnny Unitas Stadium Towson, MD May 30 |
| 1 | Maryland* | 20 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Marist | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Marist | 5 | 1 | Maryland* | 15 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 8 | Penn | 10 | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Penn* | 14 | 8 | Penn | 10 | | | | | | | |
| | Boston U. | 9 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Boston U. | 9 | | | | 1 | Maryland | 14 | | | | |
| | | | | | | | Syracuse | 5 | | | | |
| 5 | James Madison* | 9 | | | | | | | | Syracuse | 5 | | | | |
| | Stanford | 8 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Stanford | 8 | 5 | James Madison* | 3 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | Syracuse | 7 | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Georgetown* | 8 | | Syracuse | 7 | | | | | | | |
| | Syracuse | 15 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Syracuse | 15 | | | | | | | | 1 | Maryland | 13 |
| | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Northwestern | 11 |
| 3 | North Carolina* | 18 | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Northwestern | 11 |
| | Navy | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Navy | 5 | 3 | North Carolina* | 17 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 6 | Virginia | 7 | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Virginia* | 14 | 6 | Virginia | 7 | | | | | | | |
| | Towson | 12 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Towson | 12 | | | | 3 | North Carolina | 10 | | | | |
| | | | | | | 2 | Northwestern | 15 | | | | |
| 7 | Duke* | 16 | | | | | | | 2 | Northwestern | 15 | | | | |
| | Vanderbilt | 15 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Vanderbilt | 15 | 7 | Duke | 8 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 2 | Northwestern* | 18 | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Northwestern* | 19 | 2 | Northwestern* | 18 | | | | | | | |
| | Notre Dame | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |
* Host institution

## All-tournament team

* Kari Ellen Johnson, Maryland
* Caitlyn McFadden, Maryland (Most outstanding player)
* Sarah Mollison, Maryland
* Katie Schwarzmann, Maryland
* Karissa Taylor, Maryland
* Corey Donohoe, North Carolina
* Laura Zimmerman, North Carolina
* Katrina Dowd, Northwestern
* Shannon Smith, Northwestern
* Danielle Spencer, Northwestern
* Liz Hogan, Syracuse
* Halley Quillinan, Syracuse