VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore entered Saturday (March 25) knowing that one loss would end its quest for a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championship and the automatic berth to the NCAA Championship that comes with it.
Unfortunately for the Hawks (75-44), they never quite found their rhythm against University of Alabama at Birmingham and dropped the Megamatch 2-0 (752-856, 839-910) on Saturday morning.
"We certainly didn't want the event to end for us today," Hawks head coach Roger Petrin said. "But there is still some more postseason happening. We know we are going to the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships, so we have that coming up. Moving forward is just remembering what we are here for and what we have done throughout the year has still been a really good year. One weekend doesn't define our year."
Nine teams will receive automatic bids to the NCAA Championship by virtue of a conference title this weekend. The remaining eight teams will be looking to capture one of eight at-large bids that will be awarded on Wednesday (March 29) to bring the field to 17. That is not out of the realm of possibility for the Hawks.
"There is still a chance that we could get into the first rounds of the NCAA Championship as well," Petrin said. "I think the last time I looked we were No. 10 in the RPI. I don't know what that means for us exactly, but there is still a chance. I think if we fall to around 12 or 13 after this weekend, we are right on the cut line."
UMES will need some help with those teams in the rankings who are ahead of them. Any team ranked above the Hawks, which is upset in its conference tournament, hurts their chances of making the field.
"We need to hope that North Carolina A&T does their job and finishes out the weekend," Petrin said. "We need to hope that all the conferences with ranked teams ahead of us shake out based on the rankings. I know we didn't do what we were expected to do. We are in this position because we put ourselves in it.
"Now all we can do is wait and see."
