In the summer of '97, T.J. Durnan fulfilled a lifelong dream.
The then-freshman was playing in the Final Four, the ultimate fantasy for any lacrosse player. Durnan didn't start back then, only seeing time in extra-man situations, but none of that mattered.
The early-season frustrations of losing that third starting spot in the front line were long past. That afternoon, there was no place Durnan would rather be than an ordinary-looking field in College Park, Md.
Durnan stepped out onto the Byrd Stadium grass and looked around in awe. The stadium was packed with thousands of fans and things moved in slow motion for the young kid from Rockville Centre, N.Y.
"It was like a dream," Durnan said. "Growing up playing lacrosse, that's what everyone wants to do."
Three years after reaching the pinnacle of the sport, Durnan wants nothing more than a return trip to that ordinary field at this year's Final Four.
But back when Durnan was living out his dream, it seemed almost a given he'd be back. But back-to-back quarterfinal losses, including last year's disastrous upset loss to Georgetown, leaves the senior with just one more chance.
"Last year, we had an awesome season but we didn't get there," Durnan said. "[The seniors] know that this is our last chance to get there. It would be pretty tough if we didn't. We feel this year it's kind of fated for us to get back to the Final Four."
Fate is one word to describe the full circle that Durnan and his fellow seniors have made in their careers. Beginning with their Final Four freshman campaign, Durnan and company have become the winningest class in program history and now they hope to seal the deal with a national title.
Durnan and fellow senior attacker Jared Frood have played together four years, and the duo have really bonded on and off the field. They anticipate
"They get along so well," coach Mike Pressler said. "They're so close. I equate it to a point guard and shooting guard; they know where each other are. They've been playing together since they were freshmen.... T.J., Jared and [junior] Greg [Patchak] all complement each other so well and have a great feeling for each other."
And for that reason, the attack line came into the season trumpeted with much fanfare. They were rated as one of the best units in the country, but the expectations melted away in a pair of mediocre offensive performances in consecutive losses to Loyola and Brown.
After the loss to unranked Brown, Durnan and the rest of the offense decided that something must change.
"At the beginning of the year, we knew we were touted as one of the best attack lines in the country, and in the first few games we were not living up to it," Durnan said. "After the Brown game, we realized as we go, the team goes."
And since then, Durnan has been proven a prophet.
Heading into Sunday's game with Army, Duke is on a four-game winning streak, led by the heroics of Frood and Durnan, who now stands as the ACC's leading goal scorer.
But the path from a wide-eyed 10-year-old to a feared attacker wasn't always laid out perfectly.
Durnan was born in Long Island, a hotbed of lacrosse, but the sport was relatively foreign in his hometown. It's rather remarkable that he picked up the sport so young, seeing how none of his three older brothers had ever played and his town didn't even have a team.
In fact, if it wasn't for a neighborhood kid living down the street, Durnan may have never played the game.
But Durnan befriended a lacrosse player down the road, and while in fifth grade, T.J. and his
But it was quite a team.
Of Durnan's core group of five friends on that first team, four play Division I lacrosse and two serve as team captains, just like Durnan. This group of boys helped to transform Rockville Centre into a lacrosse town, forever altering its makeup.
"Lacrosse wasn't big at all when I first started," Durnan said. "We had to go over and play in a different town. Me and my group of friends were the first people to play it. Now when you go through the town you can't go anywhere without seeing kids playing lacrosse.
"When I started playing, I loved it so much. I started following college lacrosse and right away that was a goal of mine."
And somewhere between the stretch of road connecting Rockville Centre and Lynbrook, dreams became a reality.
Durnan started playing non-stop, and some 11 years later, it shows. Durnan's large size allows him to overpower defenders, but what sets him apart is his skill and versatility. Durnan, a natural right-hander, is nearly as strong going to his left as he is to the right.
"He's had a stick in his hand at an early age and he's really worked on it," Pressler said. "He has a great feel for the lacrosse stick.... There's a misconception about our team that we're a bunch of big football players who don't have skills. We're an exceptionally skilled team and T.J. exemplifies that for us.
"It puts so much pressure on the defender that he can go both ways. If you take away one side from T.J., he'll kill you on the other side."
And that has translated into 27 goals this year. But in the end, only one goal means anything to Durnan.
An extraordinary return trip to that ordinary stadium.
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