Exactly 15 minutes later, there were thunderous claps, whistles and cheers when the field for the tournament was completed with the announcement that the University of Denver’s men’s lacrosse team would be hosting Villanova University (13-2) in a first round matchup as the tournament’s No. 6 overall seed.

The game will take place on Sunday at 3:15 MT and can be seen on ESPNU.

Earlier in the day, internet speculation was that DU was going to be shut out of hosting a game for the second consecutive year as both laxpower.com and InsideLacrosse both predicted the school was going to be the first non-seeded team; however that was not the end result as the committee ultimately decided that Denver was deserving of a top-seed and the school’s first home game in the NCAA tournament.

“We thought we were going to be the six, seven, eight or nine seed,” said head coach Bill Tierney. “When we saw that UNC and Maryland were in that eight and nine spot that meant we were moving up to seven, or even six. When you get these matchups, they don’t matter, because you just want a top seed.”

The Pioneers (13-2) entered the day with the No. 7 ranking in the Ratings Percentage Index, which evaluates strength of schedule amongst other factors.

Some doubted that DU had played tough enough competition in their league schedule to earn a top-eight seed, but the team’s non-conference schedule was the difference maker.

“Our non-league schedule saved us, there’s no doubt there,” said Tierney. “Having Syracuse, Notre Dame and Duke on our schedule helped us the most and the win over Duke put us over the edge.”

In addition to being DU’s first home game, it will be the first postseason game ever at the NCAA Division I level to be played west of the Mississippi River.

“We’re excited, because we’ve worked very hard throughout the season, wanting to get to this spot—to host a home game on our field,” said Tierney. “We feel the committee did a great job. We are happy for the University of Denver, but also for the expansion of the game in this region.”

Denver is 0-3 in NCAA tournament games, something that players are confident they can overcome next weekend when they play host in the first round.

“I thought [the seeding] worked out to our advantage, with the home field advantage and [drawing] Villanova,” said junior Mark Matthews. “I think they’re a good team but we can beat them. [The first win in the NCAA] is something we’ve been talking about, we want to break that streak and our goal is to get that win not only for the school, but also for ourselves so we can move on to the next round and see what happens.”

The Pioneers are coming off a 11-9 victory over Fairfield in the Eastern College Athletic Conference’s tournament championship, which allowed the team to clinch the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAAs.

DU jumped out to a big lead on the Stags, going up 11-3 early in the fourth quarter only to see that dwindle after Fairfield scored six consecutive goals.

“We put that behind us right after the game,” said Matthews about letting the bad fourth quarter linger this week. “We fell apart but its not going to happen again.”

What was worse than the Pioneers collapse was the fact that they lost senior attackman and captain Todd Baxter to an ankle and knee injury with less than 90 second to play.

According to Tierney, the team will not know Baxter’s status until tomorrow night after he receives a MRI on both his ankle and knee.

If he can’t play against Villanova, Tierney said transfer sophomore Eric Law will play attack.

Law has started as a midfielder all season for the Pioneers, but has attack experience from last season, where he played as an attackman at Salisbury University at the Division III level.

“Todd’s the heart and soul of our team, so it’s definitely a huge loss,” said Matthews. “However I was thinking Eric about to fill in for him if he can’t go. He’s played the position before and we have a full week to help him learn it, so he can fit into that position.”

Tierney said on Saturday that the team had accomplished two of its three goals for the season, claiming the ECAC’s regular and postseason championships. On Sunday, he said that the selection committee allowed him to accomplish one his top priorities when he took over the program in the fall of 2009.

“Two years ago, it was part of our mission statement,” said Tierney. “Hosting a NCAA game has always been something we wanted to do not only for this school but the entire sport.”

The Pioneers enter the third part of their season on a program-record 10-game winning streak, topping their own nine-game winning streak that they carried into the NCAA tournament last year before they lost 9-7 to Stony Brook in round one.

If Denver wins against Villanova, they will play the winner of No. 3-seeded John Hopkins and Hofstra in the NCAA Quarterfinals, which will be played on the campus of Hofstra in Hempstead, N.Y. on May 21-22.