National Championship Preview

Well here it is the men’s lacrosse division I national championship game. From the start of the season in February with plenty of snow still left on the ground to the now warm weather in Baltimore we are finally down to two teams. For the first since 1992 when the Princeton Tigers won their first national championship, a school will win the championship for the first in there school’s history. The two teams featured are 5th seeded Duke and unseeded Notre Dame; this is the first time since UMass in 2006 that an unseeded team has made the national championship game. This is Duke’s 3rd appearance in the championship game, first since 2007 when they lost 11-10 to Johns Hopkins, for the Fighting Irish this is their first appearance in the championship game. Notre Dame beat Duke in February earlier this season by a score of 11-7 in Durham. This game will feature to different offensive styles and whichever team can control the game with their offense will play a big factor into which team will win.




Let’s start with the unseeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish; Rudy should be proud of this underdog team from South Bend. The Irish ended the regular season by losing 3 of the 5 final games and finished the regular season with a record of 7-6. Despite the Duke win being the only signature win of the season for the Irish, Notre Dame still received an at large bid to the dance. And as the saying goes “all you have to do is make the playoffs to win it all” has proven true for this team as they beat Princeton at Princeton and a heavily favored Maryland team to make it to Baltimore this year. In the semi final game against Cornell, Norte Dame used a defense first mentality to beat a highly motivated Big Red team. The Irish rode the hot goal tending of senior goal tender Scott Rodgers as he made 16 saves and 8 saves in the 4th quarter in the win over the Big Red. The defensive in front of Rodgers did a great job on Cornell’s offensive stars as they held both Ryan Hurley and Rob Pannell to just 2 goals apiece for both players. Good thing the Notre Dame defense is firing on all cylinders as a unit right now because this defensive unit will face another pair of great offensive players in Duke’s Max Quinzani and Ned Crotty who combined for 7 points in their win over UVA on Saturday. Rodgers needs to remain hot in net and the defense in front of him needs to slow down Quinzani and Crotty for Notre Dame to come out on top. Duke went on a run of 7 straight goals in there win over UVA the Irish cannot allow a run like that to happen against them on Monday. On the offensive side of the ball, Neal Hicks and Zach Brenneman need to show up once again on Monday as they combined for 7 out of the 12 goals Notre Dame scored on Saturday. Notre Dame needs to turn this into a half field game as they run a ball control offense. If the Irish get down big early or let in a late run of goals by Duke, Notre Dame will not win this game with that ball control offense that normally chews up a lot of time on the clock. On the other hand; if Notre Dame gets up big they can use that ball control offense to chew off time and keep the ball out of Quinzani’s and Crotty’s sticks to lead them to victory.




Duke comes in with a record of 12-4 in the regular season, Dukes 4 losses came to all 3 ACC teams and of course there opponent Notre Dame. That 11-7 loss to Notre Dame was only the team’s second game of the season so there might still have been some extra snow on the Blue Devils sticks at the time, but since then Duke has been one of the top teams all spring long. Duke’s road to the championship game includes wins over Johns Hopkins, rival North Carolina and Saturday’s semi final win over UVA, in one of the best games of the tournament. In the game against the Cavaliers, the Duke defense was able to limit the Bratton brothers to just 2 points combined, but allowed Steele Stanwick and Brian Carroll to have 5 goals in the game. The Duke defense will only have to worry about Notre Dame’s Neal Hicks and Zach Brenneman on the defensive end. Even though the Blue Devils defense allowed Stanwick and Carroll to score goals, they were able to shut down the very athletic and very skilled Bratton brothers by having the slides leave earlier than usual when they had the ball. This is very impressive and if Duke’s defense plays like this again it should be an easy day on this end of the field for Duke. On the offensive side once again the ball we go through Max Quinzani and Ned Crotty who had 5 goals combined on Saturday. Both players were on the team during Duke’s 2007 loss to Hopkins in the championship game and would love for their last game in a Duke uniform to be Duke’s first championship. That will happen if Duke can get there fast paced offense going and turn this game into a track meet this should be Duke’s day. If Duke gets down by 3 or 4 goals on Monday they should not panic as they went on a 7 straight goal run against UVA and the face paced offense means that Duke can make up a 3 or 4 goal deficit quickly. However, if they are down by 2 goals with under a minute left Notre Dame’s ball control offense will not help Duke as the Irish will most likely just pass the ball around the box for the final minute of the game with a lead, if this happens the Duke defensive unit has to remain patient and not commit a slashing or checking penalty when trying to win the ball back.

I cannot believe this, but I’m picking Duke to win this game even though I will be cheering for the Irish at M & T Bank on Monday. In the end I just think Duke’s fast paced offense will be too much for Notre Dame, remember Duke’s seniors were on the team during the 2007 championship game loss and they would love for nothing more to be remembered as the first national championship team at Duke. Duke wins 10-6, Max Quinzani has a big day en route to the championship.

Lacrosse Final Four Preview

Well here it is the men's lacrosse final four is just about a day away. This year a lacrosse champion will be crowned in Baltimore, where the final four belongs. Having the lacrosse final four in Baltimore is what Army Navy means to Philadelphia, the Red River Shootout at the Cotton Bowl, the College World Series at Rossenblatt Stadium etc, it just belongs in Baltimore. Yes I know to expand the sport of lacrosse the final four will be at different sites, and I do understand that, but there is something special about crabs and championship lacrosse. Anyways on to the teams coming to Baltimore this weekend. Out of the four competing two were expected to be there two were not. Lets start with the unlikely matchup between unseeded Notre Dame and 7th seeded Cornell.



The Fighting Irish come in with a record of 9-6 during the regular season. Notre Dame is kind of like the Philadelphia Flyers, not to impressive of a regular season nor was the schedule. The Irish did have a key 11-7 win over Duke in their first game of the season which could play key if both the Irish and Blue Devils win on Saturday. But despite not to impressive of a regular season, Notre Dame got into the dance and proved why they belong by beating Princeton at Princeton 8-5 in the first round and then one week later went back to Princeton and beat the 3rd seeded Maryland Terrapins 7-5. For me Notre Dame faces a tough test in Cornell, the Big Red were one goal away from raising the championship trophy last year so the Irish better bring the fight in them and that'll have to go through the midfielders of Grant Kerbs, Zach Brenneman and David Earl who has 6 goals in two games this post season. If Cornell decides to focus in on Earl more it will be up to Kerbs and Brenneman to support him on offensive end of the ball. On defense, Scott Rodgers will have to remain hot in between the pipes for the Irish and the defensive unit overall well have to play well if Notre Dame wants to stay in Baltimore a little longer.



For the Cornell Big Red, they went 13-5 this season, got killed by UVA in March by a score of 12-4, lost another one goal game to Syracuse 8-7 and split the series with Ivy League foe Princeton. Cornell is the most dangerous team out of the four here this weekend. Duke and UVA played a much more tougher schedule, Duke and UVA have more talent top to bottom some of you may say. But the one thing that Cornell has that neither UVA, Duke or Notre Dame have is motivation. The Big Red were one goal away from beating the Syracuse Orange for the title last year and you do not think that this team will be extremely motivated? When they are this close once again this year. Even if Cornell had a team of all sophomores who are no names I would still pick them because they this close to winning it one year ago. Ryan Hurley who had a 5 point day in there win over Army last weekend will once again be the main offensive man for Cornell as he as been this whole season in scoring 40 plus goals. Cornell also has Rob Pannell and Scott Mock that can score for them also. Cornell wins this matchup 8-6.

Now on onto the game at 6, top seeded UVA vs 5th seeded Duke in a rubber match of the season series as Duke defeated the Cavaliers in Charolettesville 13-9 and one week later in the semi finals of the ACC tournament the Cavs took down the Blue Devils 16-12 on neutral ground. Some people believe that this game should be played on Monday instead of on Saturday and rightfully so there will be a lot of stars on the field Saturday evening in Baltimore. From likes of the Bratton brothers on UVA to Max Quinzani and Ned Crotty for the Blue Devils. If the defenses do not show up for this game, the score may look more like a Ravens game is being played instead of a lacrosse game.




UVA has a record of 16-1 and was ranked number 1 for most of the season. The Cavs had an easy time with Mount St. Mary's but then ran into some competition with Stony Brook in the quarterfinals, but pulled out a 10-9 win on Long Island last weekend. What has made UVA so successful for the past years is Shamel Bratton and Rhamel Bratton combo. And they are deadly as they have combined for 11 points in two games this seasons with Shamel doing the scoring and Rhamel dishing out the assists. What about just focusing on the Bratton brothers defensively? Sure go ahead the Cavs have a deadly attack man in Steele Stanwick who has 6 points in this years playoffs and Brain Carroll who has 6 goals during the playoffs. One red flag for UVA is that they only won 5 out 23 faceoffs last weekend, faceoffs can play key if the game turns into a face paced 15 14 game.

Duke has a record of 14-4 with losses to Maryland, Notre Dame, rival UNC and UVA. The Blue Devils have also won 12 out there past 13 games. Besides Max Quinzani on offense the Blue Devils will look to Ned Crotty who has 14 points this postseason for offensive help against UVA's star defensemen Ken Clausen and Ryan Nizolek. Duke also has there fair share of defenseman with Parker Mckee and Tom Montelli who will most likely be matched up against the Brattons and or Carroll. The key for a Duke win in this game will be to limit the Brattons scoring and dominate the faceoffs. If Stony Brook had two more offensive players they would have beaten UVA. Duke is in the same situation as the Phoenix Suns, the Suns know that they are not going to stop Kobe Bryant they just have to limit is scoring. That is what the Blue Devil defense will have to do against the Brattons. But I think the Brattons will have a big day against Duke's goaltenders UVA wins 12 10.

Top 10 Moments in DC Sports Last Decade

Honorable Mention:
Note: Honorable mention is in no order.

2008 Capitals defeat Hurricanes at home to clinch a playoff birth and the southeast division, first playoff birth since 2003. Ovechkin wins first MVP award with 65 goals, 47 assists and 112 points. Caps in the quarterfinals 4-3 to Philly.

2001 Maryland Terrapins win ACC conference: After a decade of losing in the 90's, going 55-88 from 1987-2000, first year head coach Ralph "The Fridge" Friedgen guided the Terps to a 10-2 season and an Orange Bowl berth were they lost to the Florida Gators 56-23.

2004 Finally a Win Over FSU: Maryland snapped a 14 game losing streak to the Seminoles and beat a top 10 for the first time since 1990. This was the only highlight of the season with a 5-6 record


10.2005 Baseball returns to DC: After 34 years without baseball, MLB decides to relocate the Montreal Expos to Washington, the Expos are renamed the Nationals. The Nats would play at RFK for 3 years before moving into a new ball park. Nationals win the first game at RFK against Arizona 5-3.

9. 2005 Maryland vs Duke: With College Gameday in College Park, for the first time for either football or basketball, John Gilchrist had 19 points for the Terps and JJ Redick fouled out in overtime which the crowd went wild over. Maryland won in overtime 99-92

8. 2006 Redskins vs Cowgirls blocked field goal: At Fed Ex,game is tied 19-19, after Redskins kicker Nick Novak missed a 49 yard field goal the Cowboys drive into field goal rage kicker Mike Vanderjagt attempts a 35 yard field goal with 6 seconds left. Safety Troy Vincent blocks the field goals Safety Sean Taylor (RIP Man) picks up the ball returns it to the Cowboys 44 yard line. During the play Kyle Kosier grabs Taylor's facemask. The refs call the 15 yard variety of the facemask penalty giving the Redskins one untimed down. Nick Novak makes a 47 yard field goals giving the Redskins a 22-19 victory.

7. 2008 Nationals vs Braves: Ryan Zimmerman hits walk off homerun vs the Atlanta Braves in the first regular season game at Nationals Park.



6. 2005 Wizards vs Bulls Game 4 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals: In a Nationally televised game on ABC in prime time Maryland product Juan Dixon drops 35 points in a 106 99 win for the Wizards. Wizards go on to win series 4-2 then get swept by the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

5. 2009 Capitals vs Penguins Eastern Conference Semi Finals Game 2 Dueling hat tricks: Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby both score 3 goals. Crosby during the press conference says "I asked the ref to ask the fans to stop throwing hats on the ice (after Ovies hat trick goal)." We all know how we feel about that. Caps win the game 4-3, go up 2-0 in the series but lose series in seven games. That's why there is another Caps moment ahead of this one.



4. 2009 Capitals vs Rangers Game 7 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals: Sergei Fedorov scores game winning and series clinching goal with 5 minutes left. Win first playoff series since the 1998 playoffs, the year they were swept by the Red Wings in the Cup finals. Ovechkin wins second MVP in a row with 56 goals, 54 assists and 110 points.



3. 2006 Cinderella, 11th seeded George Mason Makes Final Four: After a regular season record of 22-6, a school record, the Patriots led by Jim Larranaga received an at large bid to the big dance as the 11th seed in the Washington DC region. Led by seniors Jai Lewis, Lamar Butler, and sophomore center Will Thomas. The Patriots beat Michigan State, final four team from the previous year, 75 65 in the first round, but the Green and Gold were not near finished yet as they then beat the defending national champion North Carolina Tar Heels 65-60. In the sweet 16, it was Wichita St next to fall to the hands of George Mason 63-55. Next up was the top seeded UConn Huskies again, in front of a home town crowd at the Verizon Center the George Mason Patriots defeated top seeded UConn 86 84 in overtime earning the school's first final four berth and becoming the lowest seed to reach the final four. The clock then struck midnight on the Pats in Indianapolis as they fell to the Florida Gators 73-58.



2. 2005 Monday Night Miracle in Dallas: I'll admit it, I went to sleep at the end of the 3rd quarter, yes me the Redskins diehard gave up on my team and little did I know while I was dreaming about the good old days of the Skins, a comeback was taking place in Irving, Texas. The Redskins had not won a game at Texas Stadium since 1995 and it looked like another long plane ride back to Ashburn for the burgundy and gold. The offense had been dead for the whole game and Dallas had dominated the whole game and with 3:55 remaining and 4th and 15 from Dallas' 40 yard line for quarterback Mark Brunell, there was no hope at all. Then, lo and behold Brunell let the ball fly and next was wide out Santana Moss catching the pass in the end zone for the Redskins first touchdown of the 2005 season. Next with 2:44 remaining 1st and 10 from the Skins 30 Brunell drops back and throws a 70 yard bomb to Santana Moss again for a touchdown the Redskins had grabbed a 14 to 13 one point lead with little time remaining. Then on the Cowboys last possession Sean Taylor laid the lumber on the Cowboys RB on 4th down sealing the win. Joe Gibbs in his second year back from retirement was drenched in Gatorade after the win.

Note: This includes both the Monday Night Miracle and moment #9 on this list



1. 2002 Maryland National Champions: After a heartbreaking loss to Duke in last year's Final Four, the Maryland Terrapins were on a mission to get back to the Final Four during the 2001-2002 season. Led by Juan Dixon and Steve Blake the Terps went 25-3 during the regular season. Despite a loss to NC State in the ACC tournament, the Terps still received a one seed in the NCAA tournament in the east region. The Terps cruised through most of the tournament with the closest of margin of victory being 8 in a win over UConn. In the national semi finals the Terps started out slow against the Kansas Jayhawks, but wound up beating rock chalk 97-88. In the national championship against Indiana as Maryland won 64 52 and Juan Dixon was named most outstanding player. The championship was the first for Maryland Basketball either men's or woman's and would be the only championship for any won last decade for any of the DC major sports teams (Redskins, Capitals, Wizards, Nationals, College Football and College men's basketball).