NCAA women's lacrosse Elite Eight preview

The GIST: Eight teams take tomorrow’s field for a chance to dance at Memorial Day weekend’s semis, and with all five finalists for the Tewaaraton Award (aka the Heisman of lacrosse) still twizzling, the season’s best lax is still ahead. Let’s boogie.

The safe bets: Northwestern is the top seed for a reason: The Wildcats haven’t lost since their February 11th season opener at Syracuse, and even that L came with a razor-thin margin. With two Tewaaraton finalists, attackers Izzy Scane and Erin Coykendall, on the roster, expect the ’Cats to roll right past No. 8 Loyola Maryland tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. ET.

• But first at 2:30 p.m. ET, No. 3 Boston College, who’s appeared in the last five championship games, should easily best underdog Notre Dame — the final unseeded squad standing — for the third time this season.

The wild cards: Here’s where things get interesting: Reigning champ No. 4 UNC dominated for years, but a mid-season dip and an ACC tourney final loss left them vulnerable. On the other hand, their quarter-final foe No. 5 Denver is undefeated (!!!) and looking better than ever. Will their 5 p.m. ET matchup signal UNC’s return to the top…or a changing of the guard?

• No. 2 Syracuse may look obvious on paper, but the Orange tripped in their last regular-season game and the ACC tourney semis. Meanwhile, opponent No. 7 James Madison just notched a cold-blooded win and could squeeze the Orange at 12 p.m. ET.