Championship weekend has not been kind to Duke, which lost in the finals to Johns Hopkins in 2005 and 2007 and in the semifinals to the Blue Jays last year.
The Orange has won 10 crowns (although the NCAA vacated the 1990 championship because of eligibility issues), Virginia four and Cornell three.
Tewaaraton watch
Each of the four semifinalists has a candidate for the Tewaaraton Trophy, which is awarded to the country's best college player.
The race among Virginia attackman Danny Glading, Syracuse midfielder Matt Abbott, Duke attackman Ned Crotty and Cornell midfielder Max Seibald will likely be determined by which team captures the national championship.
Since the Tewaaraton has been handed out starting in 2001, only Hofstra midfielder Doug Shanahan (2001) and Duke attackman Matt Danowski (2007) won the trophy despite their teams not winning the title.
Freshmen no longer
Coaches and players are fond of saying that freshmen have shed that label at this point in the season. So it should be interesting to see whether first-year attackmen Rob Pannell of Cornell or Steele Stanwick of Virginia make an impact Saturday.
Pannell leads all freshmen with 59 points on 21 goals and 38 assists. Stanwick (Loyola) isn't far behind with 55 points on 34 goals and 21 assists.
Final four
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.
Saturday's semifinals
Syracuse (14-2) vs. Duke (15-3), noon
Virginia (15-2) vs. Cornell (12-3), 2 p.m.
Monday's championship
1 p.m.
