SAVANNAH, Ga. – [SCHEDULE | Bracket]  The 2021 NAIA Men's Lacrosse Invitational Championship will open up play with four quarterfinals games on Thursday, May 6, at Memorial Stadium. 

Quick Facts:

• This is the fifth year that NAIA Men's Lacrosse serves as an invitational sport and the first year it's been held at Memorial Stadium in Savannah, Ga.
• There are eight teams that advanced to the invitational.  The field is comprised of three automatic qualifiers and five at-large berths.
• The automatic berths are determined based either on regular-season or conference tournament title winners or by conference selection.  The remaining at-large bids were determined by the final regular-season Men's Lacrosse Coaches' Top 10 Poll.
• Reinhardt (Ga.) – The Eagles are the top-seed in the tournament and three-time defending NAIA Invitational Champion.  Reinhardt is the lone team to qualify for all five national invitationals and has posted a perfect 14-0 record en route to winning the AAC regular season and AAC tournament titles. The team leads the NAIA goals per game (18.57).
• Indiana Tech – The Warriors won the WHAC regular season and tournament titles en route to a 16-1 record.  Their lone loss came against Reinhardt on March 10.  Indiana Tech leads the NAIA in caused turnovers per game at 12.76 and has posted a 6-1 record against teams that have qualified for the invitational.
• Columbia (Mo.) – The Cougars qualified for their first invitational after complete a perfect 14-0 season and winning the KCAC tournament. Columbia has gotten things done on both ends of the field being ranked second in assists (9.36) and goals-against average (5.07).  The Cougars are 3-0 against tournament teams this season.
• Keiser (Fla.) – The Seahawks earned their fourth straight berth in the NAIA Invitational after posting a 6-2 record.  Keiser is averaging 14.38 goals per game which ranks fifth in the country and is seventh in assists per game (7.38).
• St. Ambrose (Iowa) – The Bees notched a 13-3 record to earn their first trip to the NAIA Invitational.  The KCAC runner-up only losses came to Columbia and Indiana Tech. St. Ambrose leads the NAIA in saves (199), while there are fourth in total points (314).
• Cumberlands (Ky.) – The Patriots won six of their final eight games to secure their third trip to the invitational.  Cumberlands is ranked third in the NAIA in caused turnovers (143) and is sixth in saves with 147. 
• Benedictine (Kan.) – The Ravens leads the country in shots per game at 50.42 while averaging 14.83 goals per game en route to their third appearance.  Benedictine is 9-4 on the year with their losses coming to tournament teams Indiana Tech, Columbia, and St. Ambrose.
• Lourdes (Ohio) – The Gray Wolves worked their way from receiving votes to capture the eighth spot in the tournament.  Lourdes, who replaced Concordia after they withdrew from the tournament,  is 7-5 on the season.

Players to watch

• Gavin Banks of Reinhardt – The Appalachian Athletic Conference player of the year, is ranked second in the country with 47 goals to go along with 54 points.
• JR Sess of Reinhardt – leads the country in with a .744 faceoff winning percentage going 212-285 during the season.
• Jake Morgan of Cumberlands – is the NAIA's top producer of caused turnovers at 49 on the year.  The sophomore is averaging 3.77 caused turnovers per game while scooping 107 ground balls.
• Ty Hosier of Columbia – is ranked second in the NAIA in goals-against average at 4.08, while making 101 saves on the season.
• Cam Provines of Keiser – leads the NAIA in ground balls per game at 10.63.  He has scooped 85 ground balls over eight games. 
• Zach Stahura of Lourdes – has gone 141-198 on faceoffs for a win percentage of .712, which ranks second in the NAIA. 
• Matt Webb of Reinhardt – leads the NAIA with a .697 save percentage and a 3.14 goals-against average in 14 games. 

The quarterfinals begin the single elimination bracket play with the winners advance to the semifinals and then the championship.  The championship is slated for Saturday, May 8, at 2 p.m. ET

The NAIA Network – the association's official video-streaming home – will broadcast all matches excluding the semifinals and championship matches live at the 2021 NAIA Men's Lacrosse National Invitational. The video platform, powered by Stretch Internet, allows users access to live video, statistics and social interaction on a number of devices an invitational pass is $9.95.