The 2006 lacrosse season might seem like it was a long time ago, but for the Duke men's team, it has been a tough year to forget.

Since reaching the low point in the program's history in a trumped-up rape scandal and the cancellation of the remainder of the 2006 campaign, the Blue Devils have once again risen to the top of collegiate lacrosse. On Tuesday, Coach John Danowski joined 99.9 FM The Fan to talk about returning to the Final Four.

Two weekends ago may have served as a turning point. That was when one of the Duke players who was indicted and then cleared in the 2006 case, Collin Finnerty, made his return to Durham for a new team. Finnerty transferred from Duke to Loyola after the charges were dropped.

He scored three goals against the Blue Devils on May 10 in a 12-7 Duke victory in the NCAA men's lacrosse tournament. After the game, Finnerty said that he remains good friends with many Duke players.

Danowski described the scene after the Loyola game to The Fan.

"They (Duke players) posed for pictures with Collin after the game. He's very close with our seniors and to the whole team," Danowski said. "In a lot of ways, it was a win-win. Maybe there was some closure for Collin and for our guys and again an opportunity to move forward from a regretful situation."

When asked about "closure" from the troubling 2006 season, Danowski found it hard to say if there is closure for everyone and that it might take five to 10 years for it to be forgotten.

Duke is the No. 1 team in the nation and will play Johns Hopkins in the national semifinals on Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts.

Duke lost to Hopkins 12-11 last year in the championship game in Baltimore.