Considering the upset of Maryland on Saturday and also how well Stony Brook played Virginia on Sunday, this column would normally start off about the games.

This week it starts off about the broadcast. Specifically, the extremely poor quality of the broadcast of the Maryland-Notre Dame game on Saturday.

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If you saw the game on ESPNU, you did not miss much lacrosse. The entire first quarter of the Maryland-Notre Dame game was not shown due to technical difficulties. Much of the third quarter was not broadcast, and then eventually some non HD coverage came on, complete with cheezy graphics with block letter 'nice save' comments between plays.

As lacrosse tries to step into the big time, it is up to ESPN to do its job with the high quality coverage these great games deserve.

The action that was visible showed a Notre Dame team that jumped on the Terps, grabbing a 4-1 lead. Maryland fought back and Brian Phipps played well in the cage for Maryland, otherwise it might have been worse. The Maryland offense was just not able to hit corners against the Dames, leading to their early exit.

In other action, Cornell was too methodical to let Army hang around and try for another huge upset like the one they had against 'Cuse. Like Notre Dame, they jumped out to a 4-1 lead. The Big Red added a 6 goal run in the second half and beat the Black Knights by 9.

Duke used a strong second half to down a Carolina team that had weaknesses on defense and won by 8.

Finally, a tough crowd at Stony Brook seemed to help the home team play Virginia close. In the end, #1 Virginia pulled the game out and won by 1.

Looking Ahead to the Final Four:

#1 Virginia (16-1) vs #5 Duke (15-4)

This game will be a track meet between the two fastest teams in college lacrosse. Both teams have the offense to gun as well as run. Both teams also have great half field offenses. These teams have met twice this season and each won one game. This third match up should come down to face-offs and goalie play. Since Virginia clearly has the better goalie in Adam Ghitelman, I like them to win. The factor that will make it closer than expected? Virginia takes a lot of chances defensively and Ned Crotty and Max Quinzani are very talented on attack for Duke. They will make the Virginia defense pay if they gamble too much.

Virginia's Offense: 11.1 Goals Scored Per Game

Virginia's Defense: 8.5 Goals Allowed Per Game

Virginia's Top Scorers: Chris Bockett 46 Goals, 12 Assists; Steele Stanwick 26 Goals, 28 Assists; Shamel Bratton 20 Goals, 17 Assists.

Virginia's Goalie: Adam Ghitelman 7.79 Goals Against Average, .560 Save Percentage.

Duke's Offense: 13.8 Goals Scored Per Game

Duke's Defense: 9.0 Goals Allowed Per Game

Duke's Top Scorers: Ned Crotty 22 Goals, 60 Assists; Max Quinzani 64 Goals, 13 Assists; Zach Howell 47 Goals, 17 Assists.

Duke's Goalies: Dan Wigrizer 9.47 Goals Against Average, .520 Save Percentage; Mike Rock 5.79 Goals Against Average, .444 save Percentage.

Land's Pick: Virginia 13 Duke 12

#7 Cornell (12-6) vs Notre Dame (9-6)

The style of this game will be very different from Virginia-Duke. Cornell-Notre Dame will be much less about speed and should be much lower scoring. There is also an odd factor in the way the offenses are run for these teams--Cornell's play makers are on attack while Notre Dame's are in the midfield. If Cornell can't handle Notre Dame's midfield, they will lose like Maryland did. On the other hand, this is Cornell's third time in the Final Four in 4 years so it is not exactly new territory for them. I like their chances. Scott Rogers will fill the cage for Notre Dame and make an impact, but this one goes to Cornell by a couple.

Cornell's Offense: 11.1 Goals Scored Per Game

Cornell Defense: 8.5 Goals Allowed Per Game

Cornell's Top Scorers: Rob Pannell 29 Goals, 49 Assists; Ryan Hurley 45 Goals, 12 Assists; Chris Ritchie 17 Goals, 8 Assists.

Cornell's Goalie: Mat Martinez 8.25 Goals Against Average, .538 Save Percentage.

Notre Dame's Offense: 9.2 Goals Scored Per Game

Notre Dame's Defense: 7.6 Goals Allowed Per Game

Notre Dame's Top Scorers: Zach Brenneman 23 Goals, 13 Assists; Grant Krebs 21 Goals, 4 Assists; David Earl 21 Goals 3 Assists.

Notre Dame's Goalie: Scott Rodgers 7.74 Goals Against Average, .586 Save Percentage.

Land's Pick: Cornell 8 Notre Dame 6

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