Saturday, May 25, 2013

NCAA Final Four weekend: Duke MLAX, UNC WLAX in action

Both the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men's and women's lacrosse tournaments will crown new champions on Sunday and Monday.

Triangle-area teams, the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels are local representatives of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in both men's and women's competitions respectively.

2013 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament

The seventh-seeded Blue Devils (14-5), playing in their seventh consecutive championship semifinal, seek to win their second national title and must beat the unseeded Cornell Big Red (14-3) first in order to have a chance of winning it all again.

The winner of the Duke-Cornell game will face the winner of the top-seeded Syracuse Orange (15-3) and the fourth-seeded Denver Pioneers (14-4) semifinal.

Both semifinal games take place on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa. and will be nationally televised on ESPN2.

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Follow live at NCAA.com: Duke vs. Cornell - Saturday - 2:30 p.m.

 

Follow live at NCAA.com: Syracuse vs. Denver - Saturday - 5:00 p.m.

 

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2013 NCAA Women's Lacrosse Tournament

The third-seeded Tar Heels (17-3) will face off against the top-seed Maryland Terrapins for their second shot at trying to win their first-ever NCAA title on Sunday at 8 p.m. at Villanova Stadium in Villanova, Pa.

The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.

During the first semifinal game that took place on Friday, the Tar Heels knocked off the defending champion and second-seeded Northwestern Wildcats, handing them an 11-4 loss that ended their quest to capture an eighth national championship.

In the other semifinal, the Terps topped the fourth-seeded Syracuse Orange 11-10 to earn their first return trip to the tournament final since 2011.

Two of the three losses that North Carolina has suffered this season have come at the hands of the Terps.

Maryland held on for a 14-13 victory in College Park during the regular season, and then took control of the ACC championship game against the Tar Heels to hand them a 12-8 loss in Chapel Hill, and completed their sweep of both conference titles.

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Follow live at NCAA.com: North Carolina vs. Maryland - Sunday - 8 p.m.

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Pregame reading:

 

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Carolina Lacrosse Network: Duke Blue Devils know how to peak at right time

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InsideLacrosse.com: Duke's Success is a Sum of Its Parts

 


The Duke Blue Devils know what success is. They understand what it takes to be successful.

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Raleigh Sports Examiner: Duke Blue Devils return to NCAA lacrosse Final Four

 

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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Duke Blue Devils know how to peak at right time

Recent Duke lacrosse update from InsideLacrosse.com:


 

Duke's Success is a Sum of Its Parts


The Duke Blue Devils know what success is. They understand what it takes to be successful.

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Recent Duke Lacrosse update from the Raleigh Sports Examiner on Examiner.com:


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Notre Dame vs. Duke - Mar. 2 - Peter Koutroumpis, PKS Consulting LLC
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At the end of the day back on Mar. 2, the then 19th-ranked Duke Blue Devils sat 2-4 and had just lost 16-7 to the then top-ranked Maryland Terrapins at home in the familiar surroundings of Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C.

It was a loss that subsequently knocked the six-time Final Four participants out of the national rankings for the first time since April 2004.

Many doubted that the Blue Devils would recover to earn a spot in postseason play from what they had seen after three straight losses against top-10 opponents Denver, Notre Dame, and then Maryland, put Duke at such a woeful spot early in the season.

However, those who have followed this team for the seven years that Duke head coach John Danowski has led the program, know and understand something about Duke lacrosse that many don't.

It’s about character first, athleticism second.

It's not only individual stick skills and special teams play that Danowski seeks to develop in his team's play from year to year, it's about developing the character of each of his players and bringing them together as a collective to draw from all their positives to function and become successful as one unit.

"I love our kids and I believe we'll get better," is what Danowski said after that tough loss to Maryland.

The Blue Devils did exactly that after that and began a resurgence that consisted of beating the defending NCAA champion and then fourth-ranked LoyolaGreyhounds 9-8 at home and never looking back for nine straight games.

Heading into the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Tournament, they were the ‘hottest’ team in the country at the time before the equally hot North Carolina Tar Heelstopped them in a thrilling 18-17 shootout in the semifinals.

Regardless of suffering that loss and not reclaiming the ACC title that they owned for the past year, the Blue Devils continued on and finished ended the regular season with what seemed like a promotional game against a first-year program in Marquette.

An enthusiastic and very interested crowd of over 4,000 Midwesterners in attendance witnessed Duke’s mastery of play in a 19-3 victory over the Blue Eagles, but more importantly provided the Blue Devils another game to play before the NCAA Tournament began.

They didn’t find out where they would start in NCAA postseason play until the players started checking their phones on the plane as they returned home from Wisconsin.

It didn’t really matter to them as they were just happy to be in the mix to return to where they’ve been so many times – in the conversation as potential national champions.

“You learn from your mistakes, you keep tryin’ to get better,” head coach John Danowski said before they were to play the Greyhounds in a return matchup in the first-round of tournament play.

“I think that what this season’s about, and every season’s about. For our guys, this is not a goal. The goal is always to improve and get better.”

After beating the Greyhounds 12-11 in overtime last Sunday, the Blue Devils showed more improvement and that they could win a game after falling behind and making such a remarkable comeback to do so.

Duke now has another opportunity to making it to an unprecedented seventh consecutive Final Four weekend of play, and chance at winning its second-ever national championship under Danowski’s direction.

“You just have to meet the challenges that are in front of you,” Danowski said as his team prepared to face the tournament second-seed, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, in the quarterfinals on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind.

“It’s not anything you plan on. Not anything you prepare for, or that you teach, or that you can coach. It’s just something your players choose to respond to.”

The Duke Blue Devils players certainly responded to the challenge that was presented to them earlier this season, and have responded accordingly with ample success to return to a place they are familiar with.

Against the Fighting Irish, who beat them handily 13-5 back in mid-February, the Blue Devils know that they are a different and better team than they were then.

Danowski believes they are and their record and play since Mar. 2 shows it.

If listening to the coach doesn’t convince you that he and his players understand the method to their madness, senior midfielder and captain David Lawson described what happens for Duke lacrosse teams to peak at the right time of the season.

“I kind of feel that it happens every year,” he said.

"It’s probably a tribute to how coach Danowski and all the coaches coach, but as the season goes on, we get more confidence. We clean up our stick work, we get used to playing with each other, developing chemistry, and everything just starts to come together for us – offensively and defensively. We just play and practice so much that it just takes a ton of reps to figure it out, but when we start to figure it out, everything really comes together for us.”
Editor's Update: Lawson went on to tally a career-high five goals against Notre Dame, including the game winner that sent the Blue Devils onto their seventh consecutive Final Four appearance.

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Saturday, May 18, 2013

NCAA Women's Lacrosse in NC: North Carolina vs. Virginia

Virginia Cavaliers vs. North Carolina Tar Heels - rainy warmup - Peter Koutroumpis, PKS Consulting LLC
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Recap from ILWomen.com:



On the Scene: NCAA Quarterfinals


ILWomen was live at quarterfinal games in College Park, Chapel Hill and Syracuse as the Terps, Tar Heels and Orange all…

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Game Notes:

The third-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels host the 20th-ranked Virginia Cavaliers as the two teams meet in the quarterfinal round of the 2013 NCAA Women's Lacrosse Tournament at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill, N.C. on Saturday.

The tournament third-seed, the Tar Heels have the opportunity to earn a trip to their fourth Final Four weekend in the last five years, but must get past the Cavaliers first, as they seek to make the semifinal round themselves for the 14th time in their history.

The two teams are no strangers to one another, having they faced each other on Mar. 9 during Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play when North Carolina topped Virginia 8-7.

The Cavaliers hold a 31-22 overall record in NCAA Tournament games with three national titles, while the Tar Heels possess an 18-14 resume in the postseason tournament with one finalist appearance in 2009.

North Carolina received a first-round bye as one of the top-six national seeds and subsequently advanced to the quarterfinals with a 19-9 victory over Loyola in Chapel Hill last Sunday.

Virginia advanced to the quarterfinals with a 12-6 first-round victory over Penn and a 10-8 second-round upset of sixth-seeded Georgetown.

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Players to watch:

North Carolina: Kara Cannizzaro, Abbey Friend,

Virginia: Casey Bocklet, Carolina McTiernan

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Live game blog and notes at InsideLacrosse.com & ILWomen.com:


Game Blog & Notes: Virginia Cavaliers vs. North Carolina Tar Heels

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Duke expects challenge against undefeated Maryland


The 10th-ranked Duke Blue Devils travel to face the top-ranked Maryland Terrapins in the quarterfinal round of the 2013 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Tournament at F.H. & Lacrosse Complex in College Park, Md. on Saturday.

The Blue Devils (14-5) are riding a three-game win streak after coming up short in a disappointing 10-7 loss to the Virginia Cavaliers in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Tournament three weeks ago.

Duke beat both Princeton (10-9 OT) and Navy (10-5) to advance to their 13th appearance in the NCAA tournament quarter-finals.

The top-seeded Terrapins (20-0) are the team to beat in the postseason tournament, and Duke has been working to prepare itself accordingly as they will face Maryland for the 26th time in the two teams’ history.

“Our experience from last weekend has us feeling really good, really excited to go up to Maryland,” Duke head coach Kirsten Kimel said.

“We know it’s a challenge, but we have nothing to lose. They have not lost a game all year. I think our first game of the year (against Maryland), we were not aggressive playing them at all. We got into a hole early against them, but I think we’ve evolved a lot since then, so I’m looking forward to going up there and giving them a real challenge.”

Even though she has been cleared to practice, Duke will likely not have top goal scorer Makenzie Hommel back in the lineup, as she is still recovering from a concussion injury suffered during the ACC tournament.

“It’s really up to her and how she’s feeling,” Kimel said.

“I think she’s trying to be smart about it.”

Even without Hommel, the Blue Devils’ two wins in the NCAA tournament so far has shown how other scoring leaders like Kerrin Maurer, the team’s top point-getter, and Tayolor Trimble have helped to keep the Blue Devils on their path of success  so far at the offensive end of the field.

The Duke defense led by freshman goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea, recently selected as a second-team All-American, at one point held Navy scoreless for 40 minutes, during the team’s first-round win.

The Blue Devils will also rely on senior close defender Lauren Martin to lead the way in front of Duryea, and junior first-team All-American midfielder Taylor Virden to contribute with valuable draw-control possessions.

Follow at InsideLacrosse.com:



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Sunday, May 12, 2013

NCAA Lacrosse in NC: Duke vs. Loyola

Duke Blue Devils - NCAA 1st round - pregame - Peter Koutroumpis, PKS Consulting LLC
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Recap from InsideLacrosse.com


 

IL On the Scene: NCAA First Round,…


The NCAA Quarterfinals are set after another big day of May Madness. In the early game, Cornell routed Maryland in…

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Recap from Durham Herald-Sun:

Matheis, Duke survive Loyola in double-OT

 

Freshman attackman Case Matheis scored with 1:40 left in the second overtime period to carry the seventh-seeded Duke Blue Devils to a 12-11 victory over reigning NCAA champion Loyola at Koskinen Stadium on Saturday.

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Game Notes:

The eighth-ranked Duke Blue Devils host the defending NCAA champion and ninth-ranked Loyola Greyhounds in first-round play in the NCAA tournament at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C. on Sunday.

As the tournament seven-seed, the Blue Devils (12-5) take to the field in postseason play for the 17th time in their history and seventh straight seeking to follow up on six straight trips to the Final Four weekend.

The Greyhounds (11-4) will begin play in their 19th NCAA tournament and third in four years while facing Duke for only the second time in postseason play during the first round, having lost to the Blue Devils 12-7 back in 2008.

Both teams met earlier in the season during the two teams’ 25th meeting all-time with Duke emerging as a 9-8 winner over Loyola.


Loyola Greyhounds - NCAA 1st Round - pregame - Peter Koutroumpis, PKS Consulting LLC


It was a win that sparked a nine-game unbeaten streak for the Blue Devils while the loss forced the Greyhounds to work harder as they went on to finish the season with a 7-2 record since that game.

Jordan Wolf leads the Blue Devils with 68 points (47g, 21a) while Justin Ward tops the Greyhounds’ scoring list with 57 points (27g, 30a).

The Greyhounds will be challenged to minimize Duke draw man Brendan Fowler’s work at the face off X as he is ranked third nationally in faceoff win percentage (.650).

In the cage, Duke’s Justin Turri has handled the goalkeeping duties with his first win coming against the Greyounds while backstopping the Blue Devils to earn a 10-1 record since then by tallying a 9.05 goals-against-average and .503 save percentage.

Loyola’s Jack Runkel has started between the pipes in all 15 of his team’s games to date, sporting an 11-4 record to go along with an 8.58 goals-against-average and .521 save percentage.
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Follow live blog details and news of Loyola at Duke in NCAA Tournament first-round action at InsideLacrosse.com:

Loyola vs. Duke - InsideLacrosse.com In-game blog with Peter Koutroumpis


Additional thoughts and comments during the game @pksport

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Saturday, May 11, 2013

NCAA Lacrosse in NC: North Carolina vs. Lehigh

Recap from InsideLacrosse.com


IL On the Scene: NCAA First Round,…

 

The NCAA Tournament first round started Saturday, with the first four games of the Big Dance played throughout the day.

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Recap from Durham Herald-Sun


UNC buries Lehigh in NCAA lacrosse opener

 

The top-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels opened first-round NCAA Tournament play with a decisive 16-7 victory over 10th-ranked Lehigh in front of 1,405 spectators at Fetzer Field on Saturday. The Tar Heels (13-3), seeded fifth in the tournament, put together an offensive barrage that highlighted goals from 11 different players and eventually overwhelmed the Mountain Hawks (12-5) to extend the team’s current win streak to 10 games.


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Game Notes

The top-ranked and tournament fifth-seed North Carolina Tar Heels host the 10th-ranked and unseeded Lehigh Mountain Hawks in first-round play in the 2013 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill, N.C. on Saturday.

Both teams are two of the hottest in the country currently as the Tar Heels are riding a nine-game unbeaten streak while the Mountain Hawks have won their last seven games.

The Tar Heels are playing their 28th game in the NCAA postseason tournament, most recently suffering a 16-14 loss to the Denver Pioneers in the first round of tournament play in 2012.

The Mountain Hawks will play their second-ever NCAA tournament game and second in as many seasons after losing 10-9 to the Maryland Terrapins during first-round play in last season’s tournament.

Senior captain Marcus Holman leads the Tar Heels in scoring  with 74 points (36g, 38a) while senior David DeMaria tops Lehigh’s list with 68 points (31g, 37 a).

Freshman goalkeeper Kieran Burke has backstopped North Carolina all season, starting 15 games (10.14 gaa, .552 save pct.) while sophomore Matt Poillon has carried a majority of the load for Lehigh starting 13 of 16 games (7.37 gaa, .601 save pct.) during the season.

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Starters for today’s game:

North Carolina

G - Kieran  Burke
A - Marcus Holman, Jimmy Bitter, Joey Sankey
M - Davey Emala, Chad Tutton, Steve Pontrello
D - Kieran McDonald, Evan Connell, Jordan Smith

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Lehigh

G - Matt Poillon
A - David DeMaria, Dante Fantoni, Dan Taylor
M - Brian Hess, Alex Drake, Patrick Corbett
D - Mike Noone, Ty Souders, Baxter Lanius

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Follow live blog details and news of Lehigh at North Carolina in NCAA Tournament first-round action at InsideLacrosse.com:

Lehigh vs. North Carolina - InsideLacrosse.com In-game blog with Peter Koutroumpis


Additional thoughts and comments during the game @pksport


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Duke women move onto NCAA quarterfinals

With their 9-8 win over the Princeton Tigers, the Duke Blue Devils won their first overtime game of the season, having lost a 12-11 OT thriller earlier in the season to their Triangle rival, the North Carolina Tar Heels.

That was the only other game in which Duke played 60-plus minutes all season.

That experience came into play as a young chorus of scorers advanced the Blue Devils on to the quarterfinals past a pesky Tigers squad to face the the tournament eight-seed Navy Midshipmen on Sunday.

Interestingly enough, the Midshipmen earned their first NCAA tournament win, even while having qualified for postseason play for the third year in a row.

Interestingly enough, Duke coach Kirsten Kimel will lead her squad against her former coach at Maryland, Cindy Timchal.

Timchal is the leader in all-time wins amongst men's and women's lacrosse coaches and possesses eight national titles.

This will be a game not to miss on Sunday at Noon.

Duke vs Navy - Sun. May 12 - online video link

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Recent lacrosse news from the Raleigh Sports Examiner on Examiner.com:

Monday, May 6, 2013

North Carolina, Duke host first-round games in 2013 NCAA tournament

No. 5 seed North Carolina hosts Lehigh at Fetzer Field - Peter Koutroumpis, PKS Consulting LLc
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College lacrosse action in the Triangle will heat up this coming weekend as both the North Carolina Tar Heels and Duke Blue Devils have earned seeds to host first-round play in the 2013 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament that will begin play this weekend.

As the No. 5 seed, the Tar Heels will host the Lehigh Mountain Hawks at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill, N.C. at Noon on Saturday.

The Blue Devils are seeded in the No. 7 spot and will host the defending champion Loyola Greyhounds at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C. at 5:15 p.m. on Sunday.

With both teams currently playing great lacrosse,  local fans should mark off their calendars for the entire weekend to watch some of the best games that will take place in the Triangle this season.

The Tar Heels are currently riding a nine-game unbeaten streak while the Blue Devils have won 10 of their last 11 games heading into the postseason.

2013 NCAA  Men's Lacrosse Tournament bracket

For more reading and coverage, be sure to follow live game coverage, news and notes at InsideLacrosse.com.

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Current lacrosse news from the Raleigh Sports Examiner on Examiner.com: