IL High School Insider Joe Lombardi, the author of the “Lax with Joe” blog at LaxLessons.com, focuses on the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut tristate region. Jo…

Denver head coach Bill Tierney said after the Pioneers’ 9-8 loss to Syracuse — coming on the heels of wild rally — that it can be helpful for a program to not have a history of success, which can put pressure on a student-athlete.

When asked what separated Syracuse and Denver at the conclusion of Saturday’s semifinal game that saw the Orange advance to a title bout with Duke by virtue of a 9-8 victory against the Pioneers, coach Bill Tierney had an obvious, succint, and unfortunately familiar answer.

Two teams that have been familiar with close games all year, gave us another thriller.

Derek Maltz scored a rebound goal off a Luke Cometti shot, giving Syracuse a 9-8 lead over Denver with …

Top-seeded Syracuse and No. 4-seed Denver squared off in the second semifinal of the day. Syracuse is competing in Championship Weekend for the first time since 2009 while Denver made it to the semifinals in 2011, the a first for the program.

The Pioneers built a 5-2 halftime lead and led 7-4 at the end of the third quarter, but Syracuse once again mounted a late comeback to win 9-8 and advance to Monday’s championship game against Duke.

For the second time in four years, the Duke Blue Devils are bound for NCAA men’s lacrosse title game.

Saturday’s Final Four action kicked off with Cornell looking to extend their dominating postseason run over Duke, who has shown a penchant for grinding out tough playoff wins. Despite a five-goal, two-assist performance from Rob Pannell, the Big Red came up short, losing 16-14.

Duke advances to Monday’s championship, where they will play the winner of Syracuse vs. Denver.

Duke — in typical Blue Devil fashion — has started to peak heading into the season’s postseason push. The Blue Devils have won eight straight, including a big win against Virginia, as they go into this weekend’s ACC Tournament.

In the March issue of Inside Lacrosse, Geoff Shannon looked into how John Danowski leads the team, with sometimes unusual methods. As a special treat for our online readers, we’re publishing in full that piece from the March issue. Catch Duke this Friday against Maryland in the ACC semifinals at 5 p.m. on ESPNU. Also, check out the Blue Devils as they travel west to face Denver in the Whitman’s® Sampler® Mile High Classic on April 27.

Ken Stockmann has been breaking down DIII all season. He gave a unit-by-unit look at Sunday’s RIT-Stevenson matchup, and now he tells us 10 things to watch.

“Defense wins championships.”

There are few phrases that I can think of that have been thrown around in sports more often than this. Many times, such as when Virginia won the nat…