US Lacrosse College Notebook
April 23, 2004

Carolina On My Mind
For several Atlantic Coast Conference teams this is the weekend they have been waiting for. It is ACC Tournament time down in North Carolina and several men's and women's teams come into Chapel Hill hoping to win two games and secure their chances for a NCAA Tournament bid.

On the men's side the Duke Blue Devils and the defending NCAA Champion Virginia Cavaliers come in with identical 4-6 overall records. The Blue Devils are 0-3 in the ACC while the Cavs are 1-2. For both of these teams they both need to win two games to at least get back to .500 which is needed to even qualify for the postseason. The fourth-seed Blue Devils take on top-seed Maryland (8-2, 3-0) in the first semifinal on Friday evening while second-seed and host North Carolina (7-3, 2-1) go up against the Cavaliers in the night cap. For the Tar Heels they are riding a seven-game losing streak in the ACC Tournament with four of those defeats coming from the hands of Virginia. UNC has not won the ACC Tournament since 1996. Duke on the other hand has been very successful in the conference tournament as of late as they have appeared in three straight ACC Finals, winning in 2001 and 2002 which helped propel them into the NCAA Tournament. Duke has beaten Maryland three straight years in the ACC Tournament with the last two games being one-goal semifinal victories for the Blue Devils. Maryland looks to snap a two-game losing skid including last Saturday's 14-10 loss against top-ranked Johns Hopkins in the 100th meeting between the two programs. The Terps beat the Blue Devils 17-12 in Durham, NC earlier this year. Maryland has only won the ACC title once (1998) while defending conference champion Virginia is aiming for their fifth ACC title but history is not on their side as the third-seed has never won the ACC Tournament.

Switching over to the women's bracket the Duke Blue Devils (10-4, 3-0) enter the tournament as the top-seed for the first time since the conference tournament began back in 1997. The Blue Devils face-off against arch-rival North Carolina (8-6, 0-3) in the first semifinal game of the day on Friday. Duke has only reached the ACC final once (2001) and won the regular season meeting with the Tar Heels with a thrilling 7-6 double overtime victory. Defending ACC champion Maryland (12-2, 1-2) is the third-seed even though they are ranked No. 2 in the latest IWLCA poll. The Terps go up against second-seed Virginia (13-3, 2-1) for the seventh time in tournament history and are a perfect 6-0 against the Cavs. Maryland will have their hands full as they try to contain the ACC Player of the Year and the nation's leading scorer Amy Appelt (68 goals, 22 assists). Virginia won the regular-season meeting 10-8 in College Park but since that loss the Terps have won 10 straight. Maryland is 11-2 in the ACC Tournament, they hold 29 of the 31 ACC Tournament records and have won five out of the seven titles.

Around the Country
Out of the Woods
The Longwood Lancers have been a dominating Division II women's lacrosse program for quite some time but the Lancers have been doing some damage this season at the Division I level. The Lancers defeated Virginia Tech 15-14 in overtime on Thursday to improve their record to 7-1 versus Division I competition this season. Longwood senior Tia Richardson netted the game-winning goal against the Hokies. The Lancers lone loss this year came against George Washington on April 6.

Anchors Away
The second-ranked Navy Midshipmen are in the midst of an incredible season, thus far, and will tangle with No. 1 Johns Hopkins on Saturday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland. Navy is looking to beat the Blue Jays for the first time in 30 years. Plus the Mids are trying to set the regular-season, single-game lacrosse attendance record which currently stands at 19,850 which was set in 1987 at Byrd Stadium. The lacrosse game is at Noon before Navy's Spring Football game. 

Colorado Showdown
The state of Colorado just loves the game of lacrosse. It's that simple. In an in-state USLIA clash the second-ranked Colorado State Rams took down the seventh-ranked Colorado Buffaloes 8-7 before 2,015 fans in South Denver. You can read more about the lacrosse boom in Colorado in the recent May Issue of Lacrosse Magazine which is out now! Need a copy? Call 410.235.6882 and get yours today! 

Dog Fight
The UMBC Retrievers men's squad got the best of a young Loyola Greyhound team beating them 13-7 in a crosstown dog fight this past Wednesday. Sophomore attackman Brendan Mundorf scored a career-high seven goals and is making a strong case for All-American accolades. UMBC's victory snaps a nine-game losing streak to the 'Hounds who fell to a dismal 3-6 record. This was the first meeting between the two teams since 1996.

Stick Checks
Virginia's Tillman Johnson became the first goalie to be named to the All-ACC first team three times . . . Salisbury University goes for their 10th straight Capital Athletic Conference title in men's lacrosse this weekend. The No. 1 Sea Gulls have never lost a CAC game . . . Middlebury dropped three spots to 5th in the DIII polls after losing their first game of the year to Bowdoin in OT . . . The Georgetown women's lacrosse team defeated Notre Dame 9-7 to win the Big East title . . . TCNJ has won 47 consecutive regular-season games.

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Previous Notebooks

• < onhref="http://www.lacrosse.org/news/Notebook/notebook41604.html">April 16, 2004
• April 9, 2004
• April 2, 2004
• March 26, 2004
• March 19, 2004
• March 12, 2004
• March 5, 2004
• Feb. 27, 2004