Just dropped my oldest off at a ncaa top 20 ranked school and the funny thing is she doesn't even play lacrosse!
I get it, and I love it!
I guess in the end you picked academics over lacrosse which is the way it should be, but 99% of parents on here will have their kid playing in college even if they play at a school that is beneath them. My older daughter has some friends playing in places and at schools that no one has ever heard of because a coach showed interest from a 1200 kid school with a $50,000 pricetag and a 75 GPA
And then there are the kids that are using lacrosse to get into better academic schools than most can get into without it (including most great students who are not athletes). The vast majority of great students are still not getting into Ivy leagues, Stanford, Northwestern, Duke etc. So lax can be a great help in getting into amazing academic institutions. And to original poster, I hope it's a top 20 US News Ranked academic school. Now that is something to crow about.
So they "are using lacrosse to get into better academic schools than most can get into without it" - in other words a school they are not qualified to attend based on their academic record. And then you add to that a year-round, full time job (lacrosse) and the travel that goes with it. Sounds like you are setting your daughter up for failure - all to play a sport with minimal prospects for post graduation employment. Put ego aside and make the right choice for the future, you'll feel better about it 10 years from now.
