AMHERST - For one day, the University of Massachusetts will be the center of the lacrosse universe as two NCAA tournament bids - one men's and one women's - will both be clinched in Amherst.

The women's team will host Canisius Saturday in an NCAA tournament play-in game at 1 p.m. at McGuirk Stadium. The winner will be assured a spot in tournament.

The men will host Delaware at 7 p.m. at Garber Field in the Colonial Athletic Association title game. The winner clinches the league's automatic bid.

Both 16-team tournament fields will be unveiled Sunday night.

In an otherwise tough year for UMass athletics, Saturday has a chance to be a significant bright spot. If both UMass teams win, and both would be considered favorites, the school would triple its number of NCAA tournament participants this year.

Minutewomen vs. Canisius

Time: 1 p.m.

TV: CBS 3 Now

Records: UMass is 16-2; Canisius is 14-5

The Minutewomen could get into the tournament with an at-large bid if they lose, but with an RPI of 17 and no top-20 wins, a bid would be unlikely.

"It would be very iffy. We need to win and it's a goal of ours to win this," first-year coach Angela McMahon said. "We can't rely on an at-large bid."

UMass is on a nine-game winning streak and hasn't lost to an unranked team all year. McMahon was glad to have the game at McGuirk.

"We're thrilled to be able to host," she said. "Hopefully we'll get a good crowd. There's definitely a good buzz. It should be a great atmosphere."

The Golden Griffins earned a spot in the play-in after upsetting top-seed Fairfield 13-8 in the Metro-Atlantic tournament.

They're led by a trio of 40-goal scorers in Taylor Gray (44 goals, 24 assists), Carly Quinn (42, 21) and Megan Oosting (49, 11). Goalie Allison Daley has a 9.87 goal against average and a .503 save percentage.

"They have three big guns. That's going to be our focus, shutting them down defensively. ... We're watching a lot of film and trying to learn a lot about them. Luckily some of our conference opponents have played them recently. We've had a little help there," McMahon said. "We're not going to try to reinvent ourselves. We are who we are. We hope to get better at what we do."

The Minutewomen lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament in 2009 and in the play-in game in 2010.

"We want to push through and make history this year," senior Nazy Kerr said. "We have a great group of girls and a lot of talent."

Minutemen vs. Delaware

Time: 7 p.m.

TV/Radio: CBS 3 Now/WMUA-FM (91.1)

Records: UMass is 10-4; Delaware is 10-6.

Just eight days after the Minutemen beat the Blue Hens 11-5 at Garber Field, the two teams will square off again. The stakes are higher this time as the winner will go to the NCAA tournament.

Neither team's resume is likely strong enough to earn it an at-large berth in the event of a loss, meaning the game is likely all-or-nothing.

Wednesday was a great day for the No. 3-seeded Minutemen. They beat No. 2 Penn State in overtime on the road to keep their season alive. On top of that, No. 4 Delaware's upset of No. 1 Hofstra meant UMass not only avoided playing the top seed, but got a home game against a Blue Hen team that it dominated on April 29.

The No. 3 seed has won the CAA tournament each of the last three seasons, including last year when No. 3 Delaware took home the crown.

Despite last week's result, Minuteman coach Greg Cannella warned against overlooking the Blue Hens.

"They're coming off their win against Hostra and they have experience last year winning this tournament on the road," Cannella said. "We have to be careful with our approach. If we think because we're coming home, we're all set, that's not the way it's going to be. Delaware wants it as much as we want it. We have to make sure we're ready."

After the overtime win and the long bus ride back, Cannella said his team wouldn't practice much before Saturday's game.

"We've been going lights for the past two weeks. The next two days have to really just be mental preparation so we can get our legs back for Saturday night," he said. "Both teams may make changes, but personnel wise we know what to expect."

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.