Duke Downs Maryland In Lax Final Four, Plays For Title Monday Afternoon vs. Yale

Duke had relatively little trouble with Maryland in the lacrosse Final Four, scoring the first sis goals and winning 13-8.

We’re sure it was a frustrating loss for Maryland. The one-sided rivalry was a real loss for the Terps when they moved to the Big Ten and Duke sports in general, and basketball in particular, has made it clear they have no interest in scheduling Maryland for anything, leaving tournaments and mandated events as the only option to get a piece of the Blue Devils.

Well no luck this time, as usual. Duke now moves on to play for the national championship Monday (1:00 pm, ESPN2) against Yale.

We called the rivalry one-sided - here’s what we meant.

Quite honestly, we were only dimly aware of the intensity of hatred coming from College Park as Duke basketball rose in the ‘80s and ‘90s and we think most Duke fans were as well.

We can say this because on occasion we had to sell an extra ticket or two to a Duke-Maryland game and were amazed that we literally couldn't give them away.

As much as Maryland fans burned with hatred, Duke fans just didn’t care.

So realizing just how unhappy they were with us was a bit of a shock. But that’s all in the past now as Maryland is the Big Ten’s problem now. We’ve been amused these last few years to read cornfed accounts of nice, decent Midwesterners coming to terms with Maryland’s ugly fans. They’re a fun bunch.

• End of the road for Maryland men’s lacrosse: Terps lose, 13-8, to Duke in final four
• Preston: Maryland men’s lacrosse team couldn’t overcome talent drain in final four loss to Duke
• Duke starts fast, holds off Maryland in men’s lacrosse semifinal