Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse versus Georgetown on May 10, 2025 , Loss , 12, to, 16
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Final
Men's Lacrosse
12
vs Georgetown
16
Duke Lacrosse Returns To Practice Field
9/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
AP and Duke Staff Reports
DURHAM, N.C. - Five months after its season was canceled, the Duke men's lacrosse team returned to practice Monday. The Blue Devils opened a five-week fall training camp under new coach John Danowski, the first time the team had practiced on campus since March.
The Duke lacrosse case touched off a nationwide debate about sports, race and class. But for all the commotion, the players appeared so at ease Monday the workout seemed almost routine. The only sign it wasn't was the dozen or so reporters watching from the sideline, a rare sight for a non-revenue program that competes in the shadow of Mike Krzyzewski's basketball team.
"I haven't played lacrosse with those guys in six or seven months," said Matt Danowski, Duke's All-American attackman and the son of the new coach. "You can see there's a lot of excitement."
The school suspended the highly ranked team - which had appeared in the NCAA championship game in 2005 - and eventually canceled the rest of the season. After an internal investigation, the school reinstated the program in June.
The following month, Duke hired John Danowski from Hofstra to coach the Blue Devils. He leads a team in which all the players could be potential witnesses in a trial that is not expected to begin before spring 2007.
"I wasn't here last year," Danowski said. "And I don't know these young men yet. I guess it's in the back of your mind. It's still something where you move forward. I can't relive the past. I can't rewind the clock and I wasn't here. This is what I know now, being with them for two meetings and one practice."
The team opens preseason practice in January and plays its first game in late February. Danowski said he hopes to have the schedule completed by Friday.
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