Benedictine to host Heart of America lacrosse semifinals and championships in 2026

Atchison is set for a two-day surge of visiting players, coaches and fans when Benedictine College brings the Heart of America lacrosse semifinals and championships to Legacy Field. The matchup shift should funnel more traffic into local hotels, restaurants and downtown businesses as the conference final four lands on campus April 30, with title games to follow May 2.

The Heart of America Athletic Conference named Benedictine the host site for the 2026 men’s and women’s lacrosse championships, then clarified that all Final Four games and both championship contests will be played at Legacy Field in Atchison. Under the format, first-round games will be played at higher-seeded campus sites, and the winners will advance to Benedictine for the semifinals and finals. Heart Assistant Commissioner Madison Lantz-Farris said the centralized setup is meant to create a more consistent experience for student-athletes and fans.

Benedictine officials said the venue is built for a weekend like this. Legacy Field has a full turf surface with lights, 480 chair-back seats, an on-site press box, four locker rooms, a training room, two suites and a team video room. The complex also includes multiple warm-up fields, a grass area next to the field and press box, three parking areas and a videoboard scoreboard combination, giving the college room to handle a championship crowd and the operations that come with it.

The Ravens will bring plenty of attention of their own. Benedictine’s men finished the regular season 11-1 overall and 8-1 in Heart play after a 22-1 win over Midland on April 21, earned the No. 1 seed and a bye into the semifinals, and will host that round Thursday, April 30. Benedictine’s women entered the stretch unbeaten at 14-0 overall and 6-0 in conference play, and the Heart later said the Ravens clinched the 2026 regular-season title with a 26-1 win over St. Ambrose on April 11.

For Atchison, the schedule means a compact championship week built around campus and the businesses just beyond it. Fans coming for the semifinal rounds on April 30 and the title games on May 2 will have one destination for every remaining matchup, a layout Benedictine Athletic Director Charlie Gartenmayer said the college welcomes. “We are excited to have a conference championship return to campus,” Gartenmayer said.