College Lacrosse

In college lacrosse, there are four traditional powerhouses that have been competing since the inception of the sport in the NCAA. These powerhouses would include Syracuse Orange of Syracuse University, the Blue Devils of Duke University, John Hopkin’s Blue Jays, and also the current leader of the four, and University of Virginia’s Virginia Cavaliers. The past season saw the most successful team as the John Hopkins as they smothered every opposition to win their 9th NCAA Division I title for the year 2007.

The Blue Jays

The men’s college lacrosse team is John Hopkins University’s pride, being their most prominent team in the athletics department. In its long history, the college has amassed an awesome record of 44 national titles and nine championships on the NCAA Division I, from 1974, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1987, 2005 and the most recent success of the 2007 NCAA Championship against the Blue Devils, where the Blue Jays won the game with just one point. Even then, the John Hopkins college lacrosse team considers the University of Maryland its most major rival, with both teams having squared off 103 times, including two face offs on a national championship.

Sporting the Columbia blue and black colors, their athletic teams are called the Blue Jays. John Hopkins University’s Homecoming is celebrated in spring and during the lacrosse championships tournament, to bolster its most supported athletics department.

John Hopkins University also holds the National Lacrosse Museum and Hall of Fame, maintained by the US Lacrosse organization. This hall is housed on the Homewood Campus just bordering the Homewood Field. Because of the long history of John Hopkins lacrosse team as being the strongest, it has also represented the country on three separate international events, at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, at the 1932 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, and the more recent at the 1974 World Lacrosse Championship held in Melbourne, Australia. Because of the enormity of such honor, only the John Hopkins lacrosse team had ever an Olympic Gold Medal award.

The Syracuse Orange

At present, Syracuse had the fame of producing several of the game’s finest players. Although Syracuse did not have the equivalent luck to win consistently a national title, many of its college lacrosse players have evolved to among the most dynamic and talented players in the big league.

Top Orangemen that have penetrated the big league includes Brett Bucktooth and John Glatzel of the Boston Cannons, Kevin Kelly and head coach Lelan Rogers of the Chicago Machine, Tim Byrnes of the Long Island Lizards, Los Angeles Riptide’s Kevin Dougherty, Sean Lindsay and Steve Vallone, Liam banks and Chris Cercy of the New Jersey Pride, the current sensation Roy Colsey and Michael Springer, along with Joe Ceglia of the Philadelphia Barrage, Solomon Bliss, Scott Ditzell and the famous Casey Powell of the Rochester Rattlers, Jarett Park, Ryan Powell and Joe Yevoli of the San Francisco Dragons, and Tom Marechek and Mikey Powell of the Washington Bayhawks.

The Blue Devils

Led by the magnificent swingman Matt Danowski and the spectacular coach John Danowski, both father and son carry the team amidst the 2006 dismay to earn a reputable slot in the 2007 season. A year before the Duke University college lacrosse team earned infamy when the 2006 Duke Lacrosse Scandal broke front pages. But it is evident the college lacrosse team weathered it out good with how they put up an impressive run for the title, though falling at the hands of another titan, John Hopkins.

Even then, good news was on the way. It was when the court of law ruled out all the charges and pronounced the accused athletes not guilty, while disbarring the prosecutor for his “tragic rush to accuse”.