May 26, 2006
Lacrosse Final Four
Set your TiVo. You can still do your yard work tomorrow or take your kids to the beach, you don't want to miss the men's lacrosse final four. Trust me. ESPN 2 will have both games on Saturday - Maryland vs. UMass at 11:30 and Virginia vs. Syracuse at 2, and ESPN will have the finals on Monday at 1.
Even better, if you live anywhere near Philadelphia, go see the games. I've been to a few lax final fours, and it's always a great time - big, lively crowds and exciting games.
As I mentioned above, the four teams include two ACC schools, Maryland and Virginia, one perennial power in Syracuse and one outsider, UMass. UMass is sort of like lacrosse's version of George Mason, a small program hitting the big time for the first time. ESPN's preview of the four teams is here.
Maryland should beat the Minutemen to reach the finals, where they will likely be the underdog against either the Cavaliers or Orange (God, I hate that new nickname). Syracuse wasn't their usual powerful self this year, but they've been coming on strong. If they beat the undefeated Cavaliers, I think it's safe to say they'd be the favorite against the Terps.
As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago (and check the comments on that article), UVA is undefeated and is the favorite to take it all. Last week, they completely dismantled a good Georgetown team 20-8. The Hoyas had given up 10 goals only one time this year. Virginia beat 'Cuse earlier this year in a shootout, 20-15 and they beat Maryland twice, 15-5 and 11-5.
But, this is different. Beating teams in the regular season is no guarantee of beating them in the tournament. Syracuse has had a ridiculously good NCAA tournament record over the past couple of decades and Virginia has a history of losing heartbreaking, one-goal games to end their season. I expect this one will be fairly close and there will be a lot of goals.
In the end, I'm sticking with my team. I say (and hope) that the Cavaliers will be hoisting the trophy on Monday after a tight game against Syracuse and a six-goal laugher against the Terps.
UMass shocked Maryland in the first game. At this rate, the Minutemen seem headed for a butt-whipping from the Cavaliers on Monday.
They might want to also consider picking up middies running through the middle of the field. It's just been waaay too easy.
I haven't really seen UMass play this year, other than the bits I saw today, but I just don't see how they can score enough goals to beat Virginia. UMass tallied 8 today against Maryland. Virginia had 9 goals in the first quarter. And it's not like the Cavalier defense sucks. They took the ball away from Syracuse all day, including stuffing every man down - even a 6-on-4 situation. UMass' only hope is to play zone D to slow the Cavs down and then try to hold the ball for long periods.
Congrats to the UVA faithful.
Nice mention of the growth of lax in the ESPN article. The game was played in front of yet another record crowd.
| cdoug wrote: |
| Umass = G. Mason is a horrible analogy. Umass would be more comparable to a Temple. Umass is ALWAYS ranked in the top 25. And almost always makes the tourney as an at large team. They are without question a traditional college lacrosse powerhouse, and probably one of the top 10-15 programs in lacrosse. |
Yeah, I was exaggerating that a bit, but considering that lacrosse tends to see the same group of teams in the final four most years and UMass had never before made it to the semis, it seemed apt. Temple is probably a better analogy, but they didn't make the Final Four in basketball this year.
| GMUjoe wrote: |
| 17-0 and NCAA champs. Just read the ESPN article about the game. UMass made it interesting but in the end UVA just had too much.
Congrats to the UVA faithful. Nice mention of the growth of lax in the ESPN article. The game was played in front of yet another record crowd. |
Yes, congrats to that Virginia team. They were mighty impressive all weekend. Like on Saturday, the Cavs jumped out on front in the first quarter, allowed their opponents to control the second quarter and then opened the floodgates in second half for a big win. Great game and great season for Virginia. It's pretty amazing to think that this team had a losing record just two years ago!
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