The NCAA moved the men’s lacrosse national championship up to noon ET to try and avoid the rain. The rain found it anyway.
The title game between No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 7 Maryland has been delayed due to rain and thunderstorms in Philadelphia.
There has been plenty of anticipation building for this clash. Maryland won the national championship in 2022 and Notre Dame won it all in 2023. The Terrapins stunned the lacrosse world when it took down reigning national runner-up Duke, the No. 2 team in the country, in the quarterfinal and trounced No. 6 Virginia in the semifinal to set up a tilt with Notre Dame, which has lost only one game in 2024.
Here’s the latest on the weather in Philadelphia.
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NCAA lacrosse championship weather updates
The lacrosse championship was originally going to begin at 1 p.m. ET, but the NCAA moved it back to noon in an attempt to get the championship in before storms arrived in Philadelphia.
However, storms arrived early and put the title game on hold. The teams had been out on the field but were told to clear off due to thunderstorms in the area.
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There is rain expected in Philadelphia before 1 a.m. ET, according to the National Weather Service. There is projected to be an 80 percent chance of rain and between a quarter and a half inch of rain possible in the afternoon and at night.
The National Weather Service describes the afternoon as having “severe thunderstorms” and the night to consist of “severe thunderstorms then scattered T-storms.”
Inside Lacrosse reported the teams would re-take the field at 12:50 p.m. ET and the championship would start at 1 p.m. ET. The start time was then pushed back to no earlier than 2:15 p.m. ET, per ESPN’s Anish Shroff.