NCAA Lacrosse Final Four 2011, UVA Vs. Denver: Virginia Cruises Into Finals With 14-8 Victory

Maryland’s run in the 2011 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament just got a little longer: the Terrapins will play for a national championship after dispatching Duke, 9-4, in Saturday’s national semifinal.

Maryland held the Blue Devils to their second-lowest scoring output on the season, extending a stretch of defensive dominance that has seen the Terps allow just 15 goals in three games in this NCAA Tournament.

The 14-8 final score was indicative of a game in which the Virginia Cavaliers dominated the Denver Pioneers in the first of two national semifinals.

Virginia’s First-Team All-American attacker, Steele Stanwick, led the way with three goals and two assists. He has 20 points this tournament. Chris Bocklet also added three goals for the Cavs, bringing his points total in the tourney to 11.

It’s Memorial Day Weekend and if you’re a lacrosse fan, that means it’s your favorite time of year. The NCAA Lacrosse Final Four kicks off Saturday at 4 p.m. EST on ESPN2 as we whittle down the remaining squads to two for Monday’s National Championship. Before Duke and Maryland square off at 6:30 p.m. EST, Virginia and Denver will face-off at 4:00 p.m. EST in a match-up that pits old school vs. new school. Kinda.

It’s easy to look at Denver, label them a Cinderella and start rooting for them to beat a Final Four stalwart like Virginia. It would be unfair, however, to peg Denver as some kind of lucky upstart. The 2011 Denver Pioneers are to the 2011 lacrosse season what the Butler Bulldogs were to the 2010 NCAA basketball season.