Blue Devils

There might be a day, perhaps even this season, when the Maryland women's basketball team can withstand the severe demands of playing one of the country's finest teams in an uncommonly hostile environment and emerge a winner. Until then, the 14th-ranked Terrapins must settle for nights such as these, when a 71-64 loss to No. 3 Duke on Thursday revealed both the possibilities and pitfalls associated with such a youthful group. In the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both schools before an announced 5,214 at Cameron Indoor Stadium, Maryland looked every bit the match for its adversary through 37-plus minutes, when it led, 60-58.

The Maryland women's basketball team no sooner had survived a demanding road game against St. Joseph's on Sunday afternoon when the postgame discourse quickly turned to the Terrapins' next opponent. That would be third-ranked Duke, which has national championship aspirations after having won 14 in a row to open the season and 16 straight at storied Cameron Indoor Arena, where the Blue Devils and Terps will play Thursday. Talk about little time to enjoy an 84-70 victory over the Hawks, during which the Terps showed why they could be primed for an NCAA tournament run of their own, getting a career-high 22 points from freshman Alyssa Thomas and an assertive performance inside from other members of their formidable front line.

Maryland (3-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) has several priorities heading into Saturday's game against Duke — the Terrapins' first ACC game of the season. The first, of course, is to beat the Blue Devils (1-3, 0-1 ACC), who are surrendering an average of 44.5 points per game — last in the conference. Duke's games include a 62-13 loss to No. 1 Alabama. Maryland would like to get healthier in the next few weeks. Quarterback Jamarr Robinson , who missed Saturday's win over Florida International with a sore throwing shoulder, has still not healed.

Scott Rodgers knows there are still doubters who think his unseeded Notre Dame men's lacrosse team will be outmatched by No. 5 seed Duke in the NCAA tournament final at M&T Bank Stadium on Monday. John Danowski would beg to differ. "We feel like we have an opportunity to do something that not many teams can do," said Rodgers, the physically imposing goalkeeper for the Fighting Irish. "A lot of people feel like we don't deserve to be here, so we might as well focus." That's not the approach the Blue Devils are taking, especially in light of their 11-7 loss to Notre Dame on Feb. 20 in Durham, N.C. In fact, Danowski, Duke's coach, went as far as to declare the Fighting Irish the favorite.

The road to redemption came to an abrupt and unfulfilling end for the Virginia men's lacrosse team. The top-seeded Cavaliers could not protect a three-goal lead in the third quarter, and senior attackman Max Quinzani's goal with 12 seconds left in the fourth quarter lifted No. 5 seed Duke to a 14-13 victory in a NCAA Tournament semifinal at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore Saturday night. The Blue Devils (15-4) earned a berth in the championship final against unseeded Notre Dame (10-6)

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.

No. 5 Duke scored four straight goals in the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter to take control of the game, and easily defeat No. 4 North Carolina, 17-9, Saturday in the second NCAA Division I men's quarterfinal played at Princeton Stadium. The pesky Tar Heels (13-3) hung around for three quarters, but they couldn't counter or slow Duke's high-powered offense in the fourth quarter. Blue Devils (14-4) senior attackman Max Quinzani scored Duke's first two goals of the fourth quarter, one on a fast break, and the other from in close, as the Blue Devils went ahead 14-8 with 11:26 remaining in the game.

DURHAM, N.C. — Juking and twisting, avoiding stick checks and shoves, attackmen for the Duke men's lacrosse team were unstoppable Saturday afternoon. Scoring in droves, they led the Blue Devils to an 18-5 win over Johns Hopkins at Koskinen Stadium, securing their first NCAA tournament victory over the vaunted Blue Jays program since 1997. The No. 5 seeded Devils (13-4) advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament, where they await the winner of today's game between No. 4 seed North Carolina and Delaware.

Johns Hopkins couldn't keep up with Max Quinzani, Ned Crotty and fifth seed Duke, falling, 18-5, in the first round of the Division I tournament Saturday. Quinzani scored four goals and Crotty added two goals and six assists as the Blue Devils (13-4) used a 12-0 run to pull away from the Blue Jays (7-8). Duke moves on to next week's quarterfinals, where it will face the winner of the first round game between North Carolina and Delaware. After falling behind 5-2 late in the first quarter, the Blue Jays got two goals from Tom Palasek sandwiched around a score from the Blue Devils' Robert Rotanz to make the score 6-4 with 11 minutes left in the second quarter.

The No. 6 Duke (9-3) men won their seventh straight game and fourth in nine days with a 16-7 rout of visiting Jacksonville (4-6). Blue Devils senior Mike Catalino led all goal scorers with a season-high three; seniors Max Quinzani and Ned Crotty each added two goals and two assists. More men: Brian Douglass scored six goals to carry host Yale (6-2) to a 12-8 victory over Detroit Mercy (2-8). Women: No. 3 North Carolina (10-1) rolled to a 16-2 victory at Old Dominion (2-6)