You'll find out our prediction on who'll win the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship a little further down, but anyone who's in attendance this weekend at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., can walk away with "THE VICTORY"
Official "The Victory" Lacrosse Championship apparel by Original Retro Brand will be available all weekend long starting today, for purchase throughout Gillette Stadium through Event 1 - The official concessionaire of NCAA Championships.
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, MD was the site of this past weekend’s Men’s Division I lacrosse quarterfinals. The Final Four is set for tomorrow at Gillette in Foxborough as mentioned above, with the Championship game taking place on Memorial Day.
Let's quickly recap how we ended up with the fantastic four of Maryland, Loyola (Md.), DUKE, and Notre Dame....
MARYLAND 11, Johns Hopkins 5:
Maryland coach John Tillman became the first coach ever to take unseeded teams to the Final Four two years in a row as the Terps controlled the ball for almost 40 of the game’s 60 minutes. There’s no mystery to controlling the ball. Maryland won the ground ball war 26-15 and forced 14 Blue Jays turnovers.
Drew Snider led the way for Maryland with three goals while John Haus IV and Mike Chanenchuk each scored two.
THE MARYLAND WOMEN'S TEAM IS IN THE FINAL 4 TOO! THEY TAKE ON NORTHWESTERN TODAY.
LOYOLA 10, Denver 9:
The top seeded Greyhounds are making their first Final Four appearance since 1998. Eric Lusby led the way with five goals and one assist. Loyola’s four extra man goals were the difference. Mark Matthews led the Pioneers with three goals.
This was the third meeting of the season for these teams. Loyola won 12-9 in the regular season and then saw a 7-1 fourth quarter lead disappear in the ECAC semi-final as the game went to overtime. The Greyhounds’ Scott Ratliffe scored eight seconds into OT for the 14-13 Loyola win.
ON THE DEFENSIVE.
NOTRE DAME 12, Virginia 10:
The Irish, led by Max Pfeifer’s three goals and one assist, knocked off the defending champs with six fourth quarter goals. The Cavaliers did manage to do something no other team had this year. They scored ten goals on the Irish. Notre Dame led the nation by giving up only six goals per game.
Virginia’s Tewaaraton Trophy (outstanding college lacrosse player of the year award) candidate Steele Stanwick scored two goals and had five assists, giving him 267 points for his career. That ties him with former Syracuse great John Zulberti for 18th on the all time list.
DUKE 17, Colgate 6:
It was just too much Blue Devil for the Raiders as Duke answered an early 4-2 Colgate lead with 13 unanswered goals, 10 of them assisted. Midfielder Robert Rotanz led the Devils with five goals while Christian Walsh scored three and Jake Tripucka and David Lawson had two each. Here’s a scary thought….. Duke’s starting attack of Walsh, Jordan Wolf and Josh Dionne are all sophomores.
STRANGE LOOKING LACROSSE STICKS.
So we’re set for tomorrow's Final Four matchups of Loyola against Notre Dame and Maryland against Duke. With all due respect to the Greyhounds and Irish, the intrigue is in the ACC matchup.
Duke beat Maryland 9-8 in OT in the regular season with Maryland winning 11-9 in the ACC Final. There’s more to this game than determining the winner of this season’s three game series. Brother vs. Brother. Squared.
Maryland sophomore John Haus IV will battle with his younger brother, Duke freshman Will. A matchup made even more unlikely when you consider that their father, John III, was the coach at North Carolina until being let go in 2008. Chances are the boys would be Tar Heels today if he were still there.
Yes, I did say Brother vs. Brother squared. Maryland senior attackman Ryan Young and Duke midfielder Kevin Young are twins. Here’s thinking the action on the field will be nothing compared to the battles in the Young bedroom years ago.
Predicting is indeed for fools, so here we go. Notre Dame continues their outstanding defensive play and advances to meet Duke. Monday’s championship game will see Duke having far too much offense even for the Irish. Yes, I am calling a Blue Devils championship.
OUR GUEST GUESS: "THE VICTORY" GOES TO DUKE!
There you have it folks - our guest blogger and my fellow fool, Brian Kinel, of the crazy popular sports website - Bleacher Report, has bought us up to speed on the fastest game on two feet. You can follow Brian on Twitter @sprtsramblngman
View more from "The Victory"
The Men's Division I Lacrosse Semi-Finals will be on ESPN2/ESPN3 tomorrow starting @ 2:30pm Eastern time.
The Championship will be on ESPN2/ESPN3 on Memorial Day, and begin @1:00pm Eastern time.
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