The 1990s culminated with Maryland women's lacrosse team winning five consecutive national championships, an incredible run that extended two more years. As the new decade continued, however, a new powerhouse emerged outside the traditional geographic lacrosse hotbeds in the East. Kelly Amonte Hiller developed a remarkably successful program at Northwestern University, and the Wildcats have claimed the national title in each of the last five years (and are ranked #1 in the 2010 Lacrosse Magazine pre-season poll).

During the five-year run, Northwestern won 20 or more games every season, was undefeated twice (2005 and 2009), never had more than one loss, and finished with a 106-3 record for a winning percentage of .972. Sports Illustrated ranked the Wildcats #1 on their list of 2000s: Performances You Might Have Missed.

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Easily the biggest story of the decade was, of course, the infamous "Duke lacrosse case." A major chapter ended on April 11, 2007, when North Carolina State Attorney General Roy Cooper announced that, after 12 weeks of "carefully viewing" the evidence and conducting additional investigations of its own, the state was dropping all remaining charges against the three Duke players. Cooper stated that the review showed clearly that there was "insufficient evidence to proceed" and that there would be no more criminal action in this case, which stemmed from an incident a party early the previous spring and resulting allegations of sexual assault.

Attorney General Cooper described what had happened in the course of District Attorney Mike Nifong's early handling of the case as a "tragic rush to accuse." He said that the "Durham DA pushed forward unchecked." Nifong faced ethics charges by the North Carolina Bar and was eventually disbarred. Cooper expressed the belief that the three Duke players were innocent, stating that there was "no credible evidence" that an attack (sexual assault) actually occurred.

There were many other chapters in the case, including the effects on the players and their families, the forced resignation of then-coach Mike Pressler (now head coach at Bryant University), tense town-gown relationships in Durham, a variety of lawsuits directed at Duke and its representatives (and Nifong as well), an appearance by the players — Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans — on 60 Minutes, Pressler's book, and the NCAA granting players an extra year of eligibility. (Visit our Search Page and enter Duke lacrosse case in the news search box to get related stories and links.)

Sports Illustrated ranked the prosecutorial misconduct in the Duke case #4 on its list of Top 10 Scandals of the decade. The Washington Examiner put the Duke case at #10 on its list of Top Sports Stories of the Decade. And, not surprisingly, it was considered the #1 local news story of decade by Durham's Herald-Sun.

2009-12-31