Undefeated Irish provide a challenge

When the sun goes down tonight, the lights will come up for the first time this year at Duke Lacrosse Stadium, as the ninth-ranked Blue Devils take on 12th-ranked Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish bring to Durham an unblemished 9-0 record, their most recent victory coming against 15th-ranked Georgetown. And though many have deemed their schedule soft, they come to Durham ready to play.

"Our schedule so far has prepared us for the last five games," Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan said in a press release earlier this week. "We've seen a lot of good players and good teams and we should be able to play better because of that."

You want human interest stories? This game has got them. Corrigan's father Gene is now Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner, and played lacrosse for Duke in the early 1950s, earning All-America honors in 1951.

The Irish's leading scorer, junior attackman Randy Colley (37 goals), was a high school teammate of no less than four current Blue Devil players. And though the teams have not played since 1985, tonight's match-up has been billed as a rivalry of sorts, between two of the nation's top academic lacrosse schools.

How about common opponents? Duke and Notre Dame both matched up against Mt. St. Mary's early in the season, and both came away with victories. Both squads also took on Butler, and again, both trounced the Bulldogs by similar margins of victory.

But while the Irish have all but sealed up the single Midwestern bid to the NCAA Tournament, Duke's fate is still very much in doubt. Tonight offers possibly their best chance for that quality win that could put them over the top, and into the tournament.

"We've still got Carolina, and we've still got the ACC tournament at the end of the season," Duke head coach Mike Pressler said after Sunday's loss to UMass. "We've got enough games, we just can't afford to lose to anybody we shouldn't."