It was a great weekend for lacrosse in Baltimore. Big crowds, lots of TV coverage and a chance to take the sport to the next level by proving that someone besides Syracuse, Princeton, Virginia and Johns Hopkins can win it all. Well, so much for that. Johns Hopkins' goalie turned away Duke midfielder Brad Ross’s shot with 10 seconds remaining and the Blue Jays won the NCAA title for the 2nd time in 3 years with a 12-11 victory. Hopkins beat Duke both times and beat them by one both times as well. Somewhere, Nancy Grace is smiling.
And so, for the sixteenth straight season one of the four aforementioned teams won the NCAA title. Brian over at Orange44 sums it up perfectly, "It is an odd scenario when you find yourself rooting for Duke." Congrats to Johns Hopkins, I guess. There still seems to be a wind of change in the air for men's lacrosse, its just not the gale force we were hoping for...more of a light breeze coming in from the bay.
For the Duke program, regardless of the outcome this is a huge vindication. Regardless of what taste the whole affair has left in your mouth, you have to tip your stick to the team's resiliency. For their sake, may the only exploits we hear about the Duke lacrosse team be on-the-field exploits from now on.