If you read my initial blog entry for this year, one of the main things I was hoping for, was that this year there would be some new blood in the lacrosse playoffs.

Well I definitely got my wish, Hopkins, Syracuse, Princeton - cya maybe next year! A lacrosse playoff without them is exactly what I was hoping for, I just really did not think it would happen.

Let's start with the new cinderella story - those mighty Black Knights from Army. What a game, what a game and they took down the mighty kings of lax, even sweeter. I am a little conflicted on the upcoming Army vs Cornell game as I was definitely rooting for Cornell in 2009 - they just forgot that the game is 60 full minutes, Syracuse got amazingly lucky and then took Cornell down in overtime. But it's 2010 now so I have to root for Army.

The other great game was Duke destroying Hopkins, I did not expect to see Hopkins to be so dominated in a playoff game. The only downside to this game is now Duke and North Carolina meet. I grew up playing lax in the 80's when Carolina was playing great lax - Tom Sears was an amazing goalie for Carolina during those days, so I would have preferred to see them both in the semi's, but at least one of them will make it this year.

The only real disappointment was Denver, they played horribly in their game against Stony Brook, which was a disappointment as I would like to see west coast lax get some respect. But Stony Brooks a fresh face in the tourney also, so it's not all bad.

So this weekend I'll be rooting for the new faces, and hoping all the games are competitive. If you're a fan of the usual lax powerhouses, sorry your teams didn't make it, but you'll do the world of lax a favor if you watch the games anyway and root for some of the fresh faces on the field.