MLax: ACC Semifinals, 28 Apr 2017 6:00 and 8:30 p.m. EDT

[burnspbesq]

Craziness. Midway through Q2 of the first semi, UNC leads Cuse, 11-2.

[TruBlu]

unc led 13 - 4 at the half. Huge comeback by the Orange. Now 13 - 10 midway thru the 3rd quarter.

[DST Fan]

Sorry to see that tonight's games are being carried on ESPN News rather than ESPNU.

[burnspbesq]

13-12 after three. Carolina's defense has gone AWOL.

[Ima Facultiwyfe]

Dang it 'Cuse! LGD! Beat the gold domes!
Love, Ima

[Indoor66]

Dang it 'Cuse! LGD! Beat the gold domes!
Love, Ima

The cheats cheat.

[burnspbesq]

Heels hang on, 16-15. Cuse had the last possession but couldn't get a shot off.

[MCFinARL]

And alas, Duke falls to ND, 7-6. ND led 3-0 at half time; Duke came back and tied it at 4-4 and again at 5-5, but then ND scored twice late in the fourth quarter. Duke scored with 23 seconds left and had a potential tying shot hit the post with 8 seconds left

So the championship game will feature the third and fourth seeds.

There is not much that could make me root for ND lacrosse, but this is it--if they win, UNC cannot be selected for the NCAA tourney.

[duke2x]

It was frustrating to lose that one, but the combination of ND's defense and an off shooting half were too much to overcome in the 2nd. The "No Means No" chant post-game from a very few of the ND fans was in extremely poor taste. It is almost enough to make me cheer for UNC, but I really don't want to host UNC on Saturday night in Round 1. (5-team ACC + Travel rules would trend that way.)

We need to and should beat BU. There will be plenty of motivation after tonight's performance, and I don't want to sweat it out on Selection Sunday with a loss.

[MCFinARL]

It was frustrating to lose that one, but the combination of ND's defense and an off shooting half were too much to overcome in the 2nd. The "No Means No" chant post-game from a very few of the ND fans was in extremely poor taste. It is almost enough to make me cheer for UNC, but I really don't want to host UNC on Saturday night in Round 1. (5-team ACC + Travel rules would trend that way.)

We need to and should beat BU. There will be plenty of motivation after tonight's performance, and I don't want to sweat it out on Selection Sunday with a loss.

"No means no"? I don't even get it. Is that supposed to relate to 2006? If so, it's not only in poor taste, it's just dead wrong. If not, what have I missed?

Agree re BU--Duke should beat them, but they are actually a good, ranked team that is playing well, and Duke also needs to beat them. So Duke will need to bring their A game.

[Native]

Credit to the Irish — pitching a shutout against our offense for an entire half is indicative of outstanding defensive play. They got the looks they needed even with two of their best offensive weapons being game-time decisions.

Our offensive woes were pretty simple: no one could win their individual matchup in the first half. Couldn't draw defensive slides and as a result nothing came easy.

Do your part and beat the Cheats tomorrow, Irish.

Need to rebound against BU.

[TKG]

Was at the game last night and cannot recall a game where we were as sloppy with the ball as we were against ND. Do not know if itwas lack of focus, our boys not being ready to play or if all the credit should go to ND's terrific D - which was top shelf- but we had trouble making routine plays.

Interesting that we lost by a single goal and in the first half the refs missed a shot clock violation against the Irish on which they scored a goal when the horn had sounded before the shot was taken.

[Native]

Interesting that we lost by a single goal and in the first half the refs missed a shot clock violation against the Irish on which they scored a goal when the horn had sounded before the shot was taken.

The TV replay showed pretty conclusively that it was a legal goal — the ball actually was saved by Fowler, which turns off the shot clock. The time it took them to corral the loose ball and score it wasn't long enough to prevent the sounding of the horn.

The commentators on the broadcast were also pretty convinced that it should've been waved off until they busted out the slow-mo replay, so can't knock you given that you were there in person.

[Ima Facultiwyfe]

Go Orange.
Love, Ima

[MCFinARL]

Go Orange.
Love, Ima

I wish.

NC out to even more of a hot start than usual; Notre Dame looks hapless. Wish that could have happened in our game.

We'll see, of course, if UNC can play four quarters, which hasn't been their strength.

[JasonEvans]

There is not much that could make me root for ND lacrosse, but this is it--if they win, UNC cannot be selected for the NCAA tourney.

Why?

[Native]

Why?

A prerequisite for eligibility for the NCAA lacrosse tournament is a .500 record or better. The Cheats currently stand at 6-7 on the season, if I'm not mistaken. Should they lose this game they'll be ineligible for an at-large bid.

The ACC also doesn't get an automatic qualifier for their tournament champion.

[buddy]

UNC's run puts our tournament hopes in real jeopardy. With only 8 at large bids, the Big Ten will get 3 at least. Notre Dame and Syracuse will get in. In a choice between a conference tournament (and defending national chamption) unc and Duke, unc will win, so we have to hope to get 4 at large for the ACC. And don't overlook Rutgers from the Big 10. We had better hope that chalk wins out the other conference tournaments. Losses by Denver and/or Albany would be a disaster for Duke.

[duke2x]

About 3-4 dominoes have to fall against us next weekend to be NIT. I still think Duke would get the nod over UNC by head-head for the last spot if it came to that.

In and host: Syracuse, ND, MD, Denver, Albany
In and could host: Duke, PSU, OSU, Hopkins
Last in/out: UNC, Hofstra/Towson, Rutgers, Villanova.

The Big 10 tournament is going to have a lot to say. Does say an 8-6 Hopkins host over say a 12-4 Duke? With ND and Denver using up 2/3 travel spots for sure, we may get another shot at UNC in Koskinen. The travel cutoff for Duke and UNC is just around Philly; State College and Columbus only fit if travel miles are measured by flying crows.

[MCFinARL]

A prerequisite for eligibility for the NCAA lacrosse tournament is a .500 record or better. The Cheats currently stand at 6-7 on the season, if I'm not mistaken. Should they lose this game they'll be ineligible for an at-large bid.

The ACC also doesn't get an automatic qualifier for their tournament champion.

Yes, thanks for answering that question before I got around to replying.

UNC's run puts our tournament hopes in real jeopardy. With only 8 at large bids, the Big Ten will get 3 at least. Notre Dame and Syracuse will get in. In a choice between a conference tournament (and defending national chamption) unc and Duke, unc will win, so we have to hope to get 4 at large for the ACC. And don't overlook Rutgers from the Big 10. We had better hope that chalk wins out the other conference tournaments. Losses by Denver and/or Albany would be a disaster for Duke.

About 3-4 dominoes have to fall against us next weekend to be NIT. I still think Duke would get the nod over UNC by head-head for the last spot if it came to that.

In and host: Syracuse, ND, MD, Denver, Albany
In and could host: Duke, PSU, OSU, Hopkins
Last in/out: UNC, Hofstra/Towson, Rutgers, Villanova.

The Big 10 tournament is going to have a lot to say. Does say an 8-6 Hopkins host over say a 12-4 Duke? With ND and Denver using up 2/3 travel spots for sure, we may get another shot at UNC in Koskinen. The travel cutoff for Duke and UNC is just around Philly; State College and Columbus only fit if travel miles are measured by flying crows.

This seems dizzyingly complicated at this point. I agree the Big 10 tournament could make a big difference. I'm not convinced the NCAA will want to put 4 ACC teams and 3 Big Ten teams (the next 3 after the league champion) in 7 of 8 at-large tournament spots--or even 4 and 4 in all 8 spots. So if 3, and certainly 4, Big 10 teams make a very strong case, either Duke or UNC could be out. Before this weekend, UNC actually had a higher RPI than Duke, although Duke obviously had a better record and had won the head to head contest. But since then, UNC has improved its record with 2 top-5 RPI wins (to Duke's none).

Under the circumstances, Duke's BU game looms large. A loss could be fatal to tournament hopes, and a win could help a bit, since BU had a top-20 RPI as of last week. UNC has no more games.

Re actually playing UNC in Koskinen, should duke be so lucky as to get a home game, that could happen--although we might be better off playing them at Fetzer Field, given their poor record there this season. Perhaps more likely, given the ACC tournament developments, is that both Duke and UNC will play road games in the first round.