SYRACUSE — The Syracuse University men's lacrosse team earned a No. 3 seed and will host Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion Canisius in the first round of the NCAA Division I Tournament on Sunday.

Syracuse is making its 28th appearance in the NCAA playoffs and was rewarded for a 12-2 regular season with a top three seed in this year's 16-team field.

Tickets go on sale this morning beginning at 10 a.m. at the Carrier Dome Box Office and online at SUathletics.com. Tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for students (with valid ID) and youth 12 and under.

The game will mark the first-ever meeting between the Orange and the Golden Griffins (10-5).

Canisius won a school-record 10 games and defeated VMI, 14-5, Sunday to win the MAAC title and the league's automatic NCAA bid. The Golden Griffins are making their first postseason appearance.

This is the sixth time Syracuse has been seeded third in the postseason. The Orange owns a 9-3 record all-time when serving as the No. 3 seed, including winning the 1993 and 1995 national championships. The last time Syracuse was the third seed was in 1997 when it advanced to the national semifinals.

The winner of the Syracuse-Canisius game will meet the winner of Notre Dame at Colgate (noon Sunday) in the quarterfinals at Cornell University in Ithaca the following weekend. The Fighting Irish (13-2) earned the sixth seed after winning the Great Western Lacrosse League. The Raiders, 11-5 after beating SU on Saturday, received the Patriot League's automatic bid.

Cornell is the No. 8 seed and will host Ohio State at 5 p.m. Saturday in the first round. Duke is the No. 1 seed and Virginia is No. 2.

The semifinals and finals will be held May 24 and 26 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Ma.

Head coach John Desko has directed the Orange to three NCAA titles (2000, 2002, 2004). His Orange squads are 19-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and Desko owns the highest tournament winning percentage (.792) in NCAA history.