ATLANTA – Seven MCLA teams from seven states are descending on Bel Air, Md., this weekend for the first annual Battle in Baltimore. The event will be held at Cedar Lane Park in Bel Air and will coincide with the World Series of Youth Lacrosse tournament at the same venue.

Three of the seven teams are currently ranked in the Under Armour Division I MCLA Coaches Poll. No. 8 Boston College (6-2), No. 14 Virginia Tech (8-2) and No. 16 Florida State (12-1) will be playing each over the course of the three days.

Pittsburgh (4-3), Purdue (2-2), South Carolina (4-4) and Texas (4-6) will also be in attendance. All four of those programs are expected to be in contention for their respective conference tournament.

The event is being organized by Pitt coach Jason Rickel and former Virginia Tech coach Matt Schroeder. Both are Loyola-Blakefield grads and saw an opportunity to show off the MCLA in one of the premier lacrosse areas.

“I wanted to expose the high quality academic and athletic institutions of the MCLA in a traditional hotbed region,” said Schroeder. “There are many student-athletes today in lacrosse that want to attend large academic institutions and I want to show them that there is good lacrosse being played at these schools, even though they are not NCAA.”'

The games are free of charge.

Battle in Baltimore Schedule

Friday, April 8
No. 16 Florida State vs. No. 8 Boston College, 5 p.m.
Pittsburgh vs. Purdue, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 9
No. 8 Boston College vs. No. 14 Virginia Tech, 1 p.m.
Texas vs. Purdue, 3:30 p.m.
South Carolina vs. Pittsburgh, 6 p.m.

Sunday, April 10
Texas vs. Pittsburgh, 10 a.m.
No. 14 Virginia Tech vs. No. 16 Florida State, 12:30 p.m.
South Carolina vs. Purdue, 3 p.m.