Duke Lacrosse on the rise
By Ian MacMaster
On College Lacrosse

Duke lacrosse has had more press ink, good and bad, than any other lacrosse program over the past couple of years. The good news, and the future is the focus here.

Duke is beyond a powerhouse in the world of college lacrosse. They are pushing to the top of the pyramid. The Blue Devils have been to two National Championships in the past three years. They lost both games by one goal. In the year in between Duke didn’t even have a program, as the 2006 season was cancelled early on due to legal troubles.

What has happened over the past couple of years for Duke has made the lacrosse world has been amazing. If you hate Duke, it doesn’t matter. If you hate the Atlantic Coast Conference, it doesn’t matter. If you love lacrosse, you love what they have done.

With players like Matt Danowski and Zach Greer the Blue Devils have scaled over the competition. Danowski won the Tewaaraton last year and was the leading point scorer in Division I with 96 points.

Greer is a Canadian who has not only adapted to the American game, but transformed it as well. Tall, large, shifty and nifty attackman, Greer is Danowski’s compliment on the field. He always scores what his teammates feed him.

With a dynamic duo like these two Blue Devils, Duke has been lighting fires across the lacrosse nation. The only thing these standouts haven’t done is win a National Championship.

Duke came out of an abysmal 2004 season to climb to the top of the mountain. However, they have been one step and one goal away from complete glory for two years.

The Blue Devils surprised everyone in 2005 when they made an unexpected run to the Championship game. An amazing season that left Duke in the national spotlight, and Danowski the Attackman of the Year, but still no National Championship.

In 2006, there was an incident involving the Duke lacrosse team and a stripper that spiraled out of control. After the cancellation of the rest of the season, and the court proceedings that ensued, the aftermath was unlike anything the lacrosse sports community had faced before.

The results led to the exoneration of the three accused Duke players. The District Attorney of Durham, Mike Nifong, was disbarred and jailed for a day. Members of the 2006 team are now suing the university.

The NCAA decided that the players who chose to stay could have an extra year of eligibility because of the unusually strange circumstances surrounding the case. Many players chose to take that extra year, and as a direct effect the scales may be turned in Duke’s favor for the 2008 Blue Devil campaign.

Duke’s kryptonite isn’t green, but blue. The Johns Hopkins University Blue Jays are the team to beat, but so far Duke has not been able to. The Blue Devils and the Blue Jays have met twice in the National Championship game and both times the Blue Jays have flown away with the trophy.

In 2008, things are different. The players are different. The great players that Hopkins had to help them win both Championships are gone. Kyle Harrison graduated and went pro in 2005. Jake Byrne, the high scoring righty-sniper attackman graduated and went pro in 2007. Goalie Jesse Schwartzman, the hefty two-time National Championship game MVP (both against Duke), also graduated in 2007.

But no one of that caliber has left Duke. No one who could take over and change a game every time the ball is in his stick left the Blue Devils squad.

Duke could make it all the way in 2008. So far, the Blue Devils are 5-0 overall and have outscored their opponents 87-31. They Blue Devils are currently No. 2 in the polls, but the seemingly untouchable Johns Hopkins, who were No. 1, fell Saturday to unranked Hofstra. There may be a shakeup in the rankings, but I wouldn’t put it past Hopkins to pull together and make it back to the championship game.

With Duke coasting through games, and Hopkins recovering from a hard punch to the gut, I have a feeling that the third time to the championship game will be the charm for the Blue Devils.

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