Ramsey, N.J. and Baltimore, Md. - April 1, 2011 - Over the last five years, Inside Lacrosse (IL) has set the standard for promoting lacrosse with events such as the Konica Minolta Big City Classic (Title sponsor: Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc.). This early season extravaganza has attracted more than 47,000 fans in its two-year history and has been a showcase for the top teams and players in college lacrosse.
The wait is over as this year's Konica Minolta Big City Classic is set for this Sunday, April 3rd at the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. with a lineup that once again pits the top teams in college lacrosse against each other. Four of the six participating teams are ranked in the top 10 of the current Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll, and local Big East Rivals - Rutgers and St. John's - will get a chance to showcase their up and coming programs.
Game No. 1 - Rutgers vs St. John's (1p)
Game No. 2 - #5 North Carolina vs #6 Johns Hopkins (4p)
Game No. 3 - #1 Syracuse vs #3 Duke (6.30p)
All times Eastern
Games No. 2 and No. 3 will air on ESPNU, while fans can watch Game No. 1 on ESPN3.com.
BIG EAST rivals Rutgers and St. John's meet in the first college game of the day, and both teams will be playing in an IL event for the first time. With conference play still in its early stages, this NY/NJ turf battle is a great chance for one of these teams to gain ground in the cutthroat BIG EAST Conference.
The second game pairs #5 North Carolina and #6 Johns Hopkins, who leads the all-time series 23-16 but North Carolina has won the last four matchups. Backed by two goals and four assists from freshman attackman Nicky Galasso, the Tar Heels were able to pick up a 11-6 road win at Maryland last week. Johns Hopkins earned a statement win last week, defeating previous #2 ranked Virginia, 12-11 in Baltimore.
#1 Syracuse and #3 Duke will square off under the lights in the final game of the event, pitting the last two NCAA champions against each other. The first regular season meeting between these two teams since 1992, the Blue Devils and the Orange last met in the 2009 NCAA Tournament semifinals with Syracuse coming away with a dominating 17-7 performance, eventually winning the national championship.
Tickets can still be purchased for the 2011 Konica Minolta Big City Classic. Ticket prices are: $45 for the West Midfield seats; $45 for East Touchdown Club (Mezzanine Level) seats; $25 for Lower Level reserved seats; $20 for groups of 10 or more; and $15 for groups of 100 or more. Parking will be $20 on game day. All seating locations are reserved. Fans can also visit www.BigCityClassic.com to get the latest news on the event and details on ordering tickets.
"The Konica Minolta Big City Classic promises to be an incredible day of lacrosse action," said Andy Bilello, Associate Publisher at Inside Lacrosse. "With the last two national champions in Duke and Syracuse, along with leading contenders in North Carolina and Johns Hopkins on the same field, we expect a playoff-like energy and intensity. The variety and scope of the Fan Fest activities planned inside the stadium will add to this highly-charged atmosphere."
"If you are a lacrosse fan, then you really cannot miss the Big City Classic experience. If you are new to the sport, then you could not pick a better day than April 3rd to get introduced to lacrosse."
2011 Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll (week of March 28)
(Bold indicates team is a 2011 Konica Minolta Big City Classic participant)
1.Syracuse
2.Notre Dame
3.Duke
4.Virginia
5.North Carolina
6.Johns Hopkins
7.Cornell
8.Hofstra
9.Army
10.Maryland
11.Villanova
12.Loyola
13.Denver
14.Stony Brook
15.Yale
16.Massachusetts
17.Bucknell
18.Delaware
19.Ohio State
20.Harvard
"Our entire organization looks forward to continuing our commitment to the game of lacrosse, especially with our strategic decision to extend our title sponsorship of the Konica Minolta Big City Classic - which is right in our backyard in New Jersey," said Kevin Kern, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. "Our sports marketing initiatives have consistently proven to be very effective in building brand awareness of Konica Minolta. In partnership with our friends at Inside Lacrosse, we look forward to sharing a great day of fast-paced action with lacrosse fans across the country."
Konica Minolta and Inside Lacrosse invite all lacrosse fans to follow all of the action on the companies' respective social media sites:
To schedule an interview with a Konica Minolta and/or Inside Lacrosse representative, please contact James Norberto at jnorberto@kmbs.konicaminolta.us.
About Konica Minolta
Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. is a leader in advanced imaging and networking technologies for the desktop to the print shop. For the fourth consecutive year, Konica Minolta was recognized as the #1 Brand for Customer Loyalty in the MFP Office Copier Market by Brand Keys. BLI has named Konica Minolta 2011 "Line of the Year" award winner for the company's award-winning line of bizhub® Color and Monochrome Multifunctional Products. For more information, please visit www.CountOnKonicaMinolta.com and follow Konica Minolta on Facebook (@Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A), YouTube (@KonicaMinoltaUS), and Twitter (@KonicaMinoltaUS).
About Inside Lacrosse
Inside Lacrosse is the premier media outlet for the sport of lacrosse, covering print (Inside Lacrosse Magazine, Face-Off Yearbook), online (InsideLacrosse.com, LacrosseForums.com, NLLInsider.com, WingsZone.com/nllmb), video (InsideLacrosse.tv and "Inside Lacrosse on ESPN") and events (Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic, Konica Minolta Big City Classic). IL is the online partner of ESPN.com
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