Blue Devils

With eyes that were beginning to water in the corners, Loyola coach Charley Toomey explained his decision to call the timeout that wiped out what would have been the go-ahead goal with less than a minute left in regulation. It was a decision made before Blake Burkhart won the faceoff clean and deposited the ball in the goal. The score didn't count, though, because Toomey had called that timeout. And so the Greyhounds' game with Duke went into overtime, and the Blue Devils scored the winning goal with 1:40 left in the second overtime to win 12-11, sending the defending national champions home.

With eyes that were beginning to water in the corners, Loyola coach Charley Toomey explained his decision to call the timeout that wiped out what would have been the go-ahead goal with less than a minute left in regulation. It was a decision made before Blake Burkhart won the faceoff clean and deposited the ball in the goal. The score didn't count, though, because Toomey had called that timeout. And so the Greyhounds' game with Duke went into overtime, and the Blue Devils scored the winning goal with 1:40 left in the second overtime to win 12-11, sending the defending national champions home.

Visiting Loyola trails, 15-10, in its series with Duke, which has won six of the last seven meetings. The teams have faced each other just once in the NCAA tournament with the Blue Devils cruising to a 12-7 victory in the first round of the 2008 postseason. The Greyhounds (11-4) have won seven of their past nine contests, but are trying to rebound from an 18-11 thumping by Ohio State in an Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament semifinal on May 2. With 126 career goals, senior attackman Mike Sawyer is seven goals away from tying Pat Lamon for the most in that department in school history.

The one thing Navy could always count on from its women's lacrosse team was a high-powered offense. On Sunday, that offense seemed to run out of gas. The Midshipmen saw their season end with a thud in the NCAA tournament's second round with a resounding 10-5 loss to Duke at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. After taking a 4-2 lead, the Mids (19-2) gave up seven unanswered goals. The story, however, was the Duke defense. The Blue Devils (14-5) constantly harassed Navy's offensive quartet of Jasmine DePompeo, Aimee Gennaro, Kathy Young and Jill Coughlin, and the frustration became evident.

Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie sees Jasmine Thomas as someone who is never satisfied. Thanks to the junior guard, the Blue Devils now stand a win away from their first Final Four since 2006. Thomas matched her career-high with 29 points and sprinkled her stat line with a little bit of everything, and second-seeded Duke ended No. 11 seed San Diego State's surprising NCAA tournament run with a 66-58 victory Saturday to reach the regional final. "She's just a very hungry player, someone who loves to get out there and dictate and on both sides of the ball," McCallie said.

So many of the architects of the longstanding Maryland-Duke rivalry were in attendance Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. There was former Terrapins coach Lefty Driesell and former Duke player J.J. Redick, a Maryland nemesis. There was current Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who was celebrating his 1,000th game at Duke and his 63rd birthday. And there was Maryland coach Gary Williams, whose Terrapins were unable to use Saturday's game to revive the rivalry, which has turned one-sided the past few seasons.

Like every other observer of the sex-race-class-legal-political-media drama unfolding at Duke University, we can't possibly yet know if any crimes were committed, or even who may turn out to be the true victims - if any - in this story. But this grotesque bonfire in Durham, N.C., is impossible not to watch, nonetheless. Take a big dose of privilege. (Who doesn't know by now that Duke, where the annual tab is about the same as the U.S. median household income, is among the most impossible-to-get-into schools?

The national championship in Division I men's college lacrosse will rest on the shoulders of Duke goalies Mike Rock and Dan Wigrizer this weekend. If they play well, the fifth-seeded Blue Devils will win the title. If not, it will probably go to No. 1 Virginia, the Blue Devils' opponent in the semifinals Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium. Sorry to put such a burden on Wigrizer and Rock, but Duke (14-3) is playing at such a high level offensively, averaging nearly 18 goals in each of its last three games.

MINNEAPOLIS - It has to be a rough morning for Maryland basketball fans. By now, you're late for work because you stayed up to watch the NCAA basketball championship game. And while you're sipping coffee, you keep switching the TV channel. Everywhere you look, there is a Blue Devil. Click. It's Shane Battier and Jason Williams on ESPN. Click. It's Coach K on "Good Morning, America." By the end of tonight, Duke likely will be featured again on ESPN Classic. Probably, the "Road to Glory" with three of the games against Maryland.

Massachusetts and Connecticut held the top two spots in the college basketball poll today, the second week in a row they were there. The big news, however, is who isn't in the Top 25.For the first time since December 1986, Duke is not among the ranks of the ranked. A run of 143 consecutive poll appearances came to an end when the Blue Devils (9-6) didn't get enough votes after dropping their fourth consecutive game, the last three without coach Mike Krzyzewski (back ailment) on the bench.

Visiting Loyola trails, 15-10, in its series with Duke, which has won six of the last seven meetings. The teams have faced each other just once in the NCAA tournament with the Blue Devils cruising to a 12-7 victory in the first round of the 2008 postseason. The Greyhounds (11-4) have won seven of their past nine contests, but are trying to rebound from an 18-11 thumping by Ohio State in an Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament semifinal on May 2. With 126 career goals, senior attackman Mike Sawyer is seven goals away from tying Pat Lamon for the most in that department in school history.

Kim Kolarik (South River) made six saves and Liza Blue (Garrison Forest) had a career-best four goals to power visiting Virginia to an 10-7 upset over No. 8 Duke in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament quarterfinals Thursday. The fifth-seeded Cavaliers (10-8) face No. 1 and top seed Maryland (17-0) in today's 1 p.m. semifinal. The Terps previously beat Virginia, 18-10, on March 1. The Cavaliers held a 6-3 advantage at halftime because of hat tricks from Blue and Casey Bocklet.

No. 4 Maryland was the primary beneficiary of No. 2 Duke's come-from-behind 19-16 victory over No. 16 Virginia Friday night, earning the top seed in the upcoming Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. The Terps (8-1) finished with a 2-1 record in the league, which was shared by the Blue Devils (10-4) and No. 3 North Carolina (8-3). With the head-to-head results among the three teams and their record against the Cavaliers (5-7) being equal, the next tiebreaker was goals allowed among the three leaders.

The trick might be too great even for Duke coach John Danowski to pull off this season. The Blue Devils (3-4) are notorious for being slow starters and rallying at the end of the season to participate in the NCAA tournament, but that might not happen this year. Even with Duke's 9-8 upset win over No. 4 Loyola on Friday, the hole might still be too deep. Three of their four losses have been at home. Before Friday night, the Blue Devils were allowing 11.5 goals per game and they still have North Carolina, Virginia and Georgetown on the schedule.

DURHAM, N.C. - Loyola may have awakened a sleeping giant in lacrosse Friday night. Unranked Duke exploded for five fourth-quarter goals and held on to beat No. 4 Loyola, 9-8, at Koskinen Stadium. Duke (3-4) broke the game's final tie with two goals in a 55-second burst from Josh Offit and Christian Walsh to go up 8-6 with 8:45 remaining. Although Loyola (4-2) twice cut the deficit to one, on goals by Pat Laconi and Justin Ward, the latter coming with 1:13 left, the Greyhounds couldn't get the equalizer.

When Loyola and Duke met last year, the Blue Devils were the top 10 visitor paying a visit to the top 20 Greyhounds. Times have changed as No. 4 Loyola will meet an unranked Duke squad Friday night in Durham, N.C. The Blue Devils have limped their way to a 2-4 record, dropping their last two contests to No. 14 Penn on Feb. 22 and No. 1 Maryland last Saturday. Still, Greyhounds coach Charley Toomey has no intentions of overlooking a Duke program that has been to the last six Final Fours.

COLLEGE PARK -- Duke was breaking with tradition this season by rushing more than passing, but that should change Saturday when the Blue Devils meet Maryland at Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C."I wouldn't be surprised if they came out on their first four plays and try to hit a long one," said Mike Lacy, a Maryland cornerback. "I know they're going to test us."Almost every other team has, and Maryland (1-6) has flunked. Wake Forest was the latest team to toast Maryland's pass defense.Demon Deacons quarterback Keith West entered the Maryland game Saturday averaging 133.4 yards passing.

The eighth-ranked Maryland women's basketball team had been eagerly anticipating Sunday's rematch against No. 5 Duke for the past two weeks since losing badly to its most bitter rival. This time the game would be at Comcast Center, and the Terps would not have to contend with Chelsea Gray, the Blue Devils' best player who is out indefinitely with a knee injury. Then what was supposed to be an afternoon of redemption quickly turned into another lopsided result, 75-59, with Maryland's top two players limited to pedestrian performances and the Terps missing 15 of 18 3-pointers in their third loss in four games to Duke.

No. 4 Duke (4-0) at No. 2 Maryland (2-0) Sunday, 1 p.m. Comment: After scoring the biggest upset of the young season over Syracuse, the Terps dive into Atlantic Coast Conference competition with one of their toughest rivals. The defending conference champion Terps lead the series 14-9 after splitting with Duke last season, falling 10-9 in February but easily avenging that, 12-3, in the ACC tournament. The Blue Devils have won their first four games by an average of 11.5 goals, including 17-9 over ACC rival Virginia Tech, but Maryland is their first ranked opponent.