johnnash@wiltonvillager.com

WILTON — It would be pretty easy to understand the concept of Kaitlyn Lombardo and Steve Giannone thinking that chasing NCAA championships was a birthright.

After all, the two came out of the Wilton Lacrosse Association and Wilton High School programs where success is both expected and demanded.

And, of course, Giannone's University of Virginia team won the Division I men's national championship his freshman year and Lombardo's University of Pennsylvania women's team, currently the No. 1 ranked team in the country, was a Final Four participant her sophomore season.

Both know equally well that it's really not that easy to get where the Cavaliers and Quakers are headed.

After all, one year removed from its national title, Giannone's Cavaliers were knocked off by upstart Delaware in the first round of the 2007 tournament.

"It was a pretty big upset," said Giannone, who played for two years at Wilton High before transferring to Millbrook. "There's definitely a sense of urgency there this year. Last year, we came out flat and over-looked Delaware. That team just wasn't on our radar. We never saw it coming. This year, we know, you treat everybody the same during game day."

Giannone shifted from an attackman's role in high school into a midfielder's spot at Virginia, something that took some getting used to.

"It was pretty hard for me at first," said Giannone, who still played in every game as a freshman led all ACC freshmen midfielders with 10 goals. "Stepping up to the different speed of the game, which was a lot faster, was tough and Virginia is a run-and-gun team. I wasn't comfortable up top as a midfielder at all as first."

He has now scored 28 goals in his career, playing out of UVA's second midfield unit.

Virginia is ranked second in the men's tournament and opens this year's tournament against the University of Maryland-Baltimore County on Sunday.

Lombardo, meanwhile, got a taste of the Final Four a year ago, where she assisted on Penn's first goal in a 12-2 loss to Northwestern.

Getting back to the national semifinals is on top of the Quakers to-do list this May.

"You know, that's the goal," said Lombardo, just days before Penn opened the tournament against Colgate. "We're looking to take it one team at a time, but hopefully we'll get back to the Final Four and meet with Northwestern again."

Despite being the No. 1 ranked team in the country in two different polls, the Quakers are the second seeded for the women's D-I tournament — behind Northwestern.

Adding insult to Penn's 14-1 season was the fact the women's lacrosse committee's choice to make 17-1 Northwestern the tournament's No. 1 seed even though the Quakers beat the Wildcats, 11-7, just two weeks ago.

"We were a little surprised, but not too shocked because we always feel under-estimated," said Lombardo. "We're just going to try to use that to our advantage."

In 15 games this season, including two starts, Lombardo has scored six goals (on only 9 shots) and assisted on nine others. She is fifth on the team in ground balls.

"I'm really happy to be a part of what we're doing right now," said Lombardo. "It's really exciting and I'm looking forward to the tournament."

Penn opens the tourney against an 11-9 Colgate team on Sunday, May 11.

Other Wilton lacrosse players chasing men's Division I titles are Bill Curry, a senior goaltender at Ohio State; Joe Somerdyk, a junior at the U.S. Naval Academy; and Brad Kamedulski, a sophomore at Cornell.

On the women's side of the D-I coin is Caitlin Young, a junior at North Carolina.

In the Division III men's ranks, players include Steve Fowler and Kevin McMahon at Ohio Wesleyan; Connor Gerken at Washington College; Thomas Hollingsworth, a junior at St. Lawrence; Pete Smith, a sophomore at Middlebury.

In women's D-III play, Kathryn Fowler is a sophomore at Hamilton and Molly Murtaugh is a freshman at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

In the Division II men's Final Four, former Wilton player Mike Pressler is coaching at Bryant University.

The NCAA men's lacrosse semifinals and championships are being held in Foxborough, Mass., this year.

Pressler is already in and there could be a couple of fellow residents joining him.