Here’s hoping for some fun in Foxborough. For the casual fan, it has to be better than much of the first two weeks of the NCAA tournament.

The first 13 games of this year’s postseason has produced just a single one-goal contest (Syracuse-Yale). The most entertaining game of the last two weekends was probably Albany-North Carolina, and even that was a product of two lopsided halves --- in opposite directions.

This is a May for the methodical. Maryland’s formula continues to deliver postseason success. Ohio State is deep, athletic and driven, as capable of scoring in bunches as it is in stymieing opposing offenses.

Denver is a known quantity and boasts arguably the most accomplished coach in the game’s history. And Towson is a stylistic throwback to the early 2000s, not always aesthetically pleasing but exceptional in its commitment to how it plays.

For the second consecutive year, it is a final four with relative newcomers. North Carolina and Brown had droughts of more than two decades prior to 2016. Towson’s back on the final weekend of the season for the first time in 16 years, and Ohio State is making its long-awaited debut.

It means there’s once again a new look to the annual exercise of cataloging the semifinalists from A to Z, though it begins with a subject that pops up every Memorial Day weekend.

A is for attendance, and it is a figure that will draw scrutiny as the championship weekend returns to Foxborough for the fourth time in the last decade (2008, 2009 and 2012). Last year’s event in Philadelphia saw the largest semifinal crowd (33,137) since 2011 and the first spike in title game attendance since 2008. But with Denver, Maryland, Ohio State and Towson all making long trips to New England, those gains could easily disappear this weekend.

B is for Trevor Baptiste, the Denver faceoff maestro who won 21 of 22 draws against Notre Dame in a quarterfinal rout. Baptiste is one of two Tewaaraton finalists still playing, and while there’s some debate about the best player in the country, Baptiste would be a clear favorite in an MVP vote. He’s won 75.7 percent of his faceoffs on the season, which would rank third in NCAA history behind Towson’s Mark Goers (.776 in 1994) and Delaware’s Steve Shaw (.774 in 1985).

C is for Tom Carey, the Ohio State goalie who was a first team all-Big Ten pick and saved some strong play for the postseason. The fifth-year senior has 26 saves and 15 goals allowed in defeats of Loyola and Duke, good for a .634 save percentage. Carey ranks 11^th nationally in save percentage (.547), edging Maryland’s Dan Morris (.545) for the best among remaining starting goalies in the tournament.

D is for Denver, the Big East regular season champions and owners of a 13-3 record on the season. The fifth-seeded Pioneers are making their fifth trip to the semifinals (all since 2011) and are seeking their second national title after winning the event in 2015. Led by veteran coach Bill Tierney, Denver reached championship weekend with routs of Air Force and Notre Dame.

E is for Erik Evans, the Ohio State defenseman who effectively marked Duke’s Justin Guterding in last week’s quarterfinals. The junior, who owns 41 career starts, leads the Buckeyes with 16 caused turnovers.

F is for forty-two, the number of years since Maryland last won a national championship. The Terrapins haven’t lacked opportunities; this is their 20^th trip to the semifinals since Frank Urso and his teammates hoisted a trophy in 1975, and Maryland has fallen on the final day of the season nine times since then.

G is for Zach Goodrich, arguably the top short stick defensive midfielder in the land. The Towson sophomore put on another suffocating display in Sunday’s quarterfinal against Syracuse, forcing three turnovers while helping to contain the Orange’s Nick Mariano to no goals and an assist on seven shots. The Goodrich/Jack Adams short stick duo (along with exceptional long pole Tyler Mayes) provides the Tigers a consistent strength in an area many teams try to hide.

H is for Matt Hoy, the senior Towson goalie whose emergence late in the season has provided stability for the Tigers’ defense. He made a career-high 12 saves in a quarterfinal defeat of Syracuse, but his career arc makes him one of the most fascinating players in this championship weekend. Hoy played only 78 minutes over his first three years, and didn’t cement Towson’s starting job until mid-April. But in the seven games since, he’s managed a .545 save percentage and a 6.57 goals-against average.

I is for injuries, and there’s a couple to keep an eye on heading into the semifinals. Denver long pole Sean Mayle has missed the last three contests with a lower body injury suffered just days before the Big East tournament, but the Pioneers have expressed optimism about getting him back this weekend. Meanwhile, Ohio State freshman defensive midfielder Ryan Terefenko missed last weekend with an injury suffered in the first round. Terefenko has five goals and six assists this season for the Buckeyes.

J is for Jack Jasinski, the sophomore attackman who drew his first start since Feb. 11 in the Buckeyes’ quarterfinal defeat of Duke. Jasinski responded with two goals and two assists, and it will be intriguing to see if Ohio State can find a way to utilize his speed in the semifinals against Towson. Jasinski had a goal and an assist in the Buckeyes’ low-scoring victory at Towson in March.

K is for Connor Kelly, the Maryland midfielder who made a name for himself early in his career with monster games against North Carolina and is now simply punishing every team in the Terrapins’ path. The junior has a team-high 42 goals, including five in a quarterfinal rout of Albany, and has scored 18 times in his last five games. No one is more consistently canning step-down shots at the moment than Kelly.

L is for Tre Leclaire, the Big Ten freshman of the year who has a team-leading 45 goals for Ohio State.  Don’t mistake that hefty figure for a lack of balance; the Buckeyes have six other players with at least 15 goals this season. At the same time, expect a big day from Leclaire in the semifinals after a one-goal outing against Duke. Of the five previous times he scored less than two goals, he recorded a hat trick in his next game on four occasions.

M is for Maryland, the Big Ten regular season and tournament champions who enter the weekend with a 14-3 record. The top-seeded Terrapins are chasing their third NCAA title (1973 and 1975) and are playing in the semifinals for the sixth time in seven years under coach John Tillman. Maryland advanced to Memorial Day weekend with defeats of Bryant and Albany.

N is for Matt Neufeldt, the redshirt sophomore long pole who has a team-high 60 groundballs for Maryland this season. Neufeldt played a vital role as a freshman on the Terps’ surprising finalists two years ago, but missed all of last season with injury. He’s part of a rotation of long sticks Maryland will deploy on faceoff wings, and it’s safe to assume plenty of double-poling against Denver on Saturday.

O is for Ohio State, which becomes the first team since in Denver in 2011 to make its final four debut. The third-seeded Buckeyes enter the weekend with a 15-4 record and have matched the school record for victories set in 1965. Ohio State is making its sixth NCAA tournament appearance, all since 2003, and is seeking to become just the fourth team since 1972 to win a title after missing the postseason the previous year (1983 Syracuse, 2008 Syracuse and 2012 Loyola).

P is for Tyler Pace, the four-year mainstay in the midfield for Denver who got off to a belated start this season thanks to a series of offseason injuries. Pace didn’t debut until March 4 and had only one multi-goal game prior to April 15. However, he recorded a hat trick against Marquette in the Big East tournament and scored three times on five shots against Notre Dame in the NCAA quarterfinals.

Q is for Quint, as it always is. Former Johns Hopkins goalie Quint Kessenich will call his 23^rd consecutive final four for ESPN, and he will be joined by play-by-play man Anish Shroff (in his first final four) and Paul Carcaterra during the weekend broadcasts.

R is for Matt Rambo, the dominant figure on Maryland’s offense. The senior attackman is one of two Tewaaraton finalists playing this weekend, and he is coming off back-to-back eight-point performances against Bryant and Albany. Rambo enters the weekend as Maryland’s career leader in points (253) and tied with Joe Walters atop the school record book in goals (153). His 58 career NCAA tournament points is tied with Syracuse’s Mikey Powell and Virginia’s Steele Stanwick for the most this century, and he is one away from cracking the top 10 all-time in postseason goals.

S is for Joe Seider, the Towson senior attackman who has saved the best moments of his final season for May. Seider enters the weekend with 32 goals, but he’s delivered a pair of four-goal outings over the last two weekends against Penn State and Syracuse. His only other four-goal showing of the year was significant, too; it propelled the Tigers to a victory over Johns Hopkins in March.

T is for Towson, the Colonial Athletic Association regular-season and tournament champions who bring a 12-4 record to Foxborough. The Tigers are making their third appearance in the semifinals (1991 and 2001) and their first under coach Shawn Nadelen. Towson, which is seeking its first national title, won at Penn State and against Syracuse on a neutral field to advance to the final weekend of the season.

U is for unseeded, which describes Towson. The Tigers are the seventh unseeded team in the last eight years to advance to the semifinals, joining Notre Dame (2010), Maryland (2011-12), Cornell (2013), Johns Hopkins (2015) and North Carolina (2016). Unseeded teams are 7-6 all-time in the semifinals, but 2016 North Carolina is the only unseeded squad to claim a national title.

V is for victories, something the senior classes at both Denver and Maryland have in abundance.

Denver (59-11) and @TerpsMLax (59-14) enter Saturday's @NCAA_Lax Semifinals with the two-winningest senior classes. #DU1NATION

— Denver Mens Lacrosse (@DU_MLAX) May 22, 2017

That goes for the NCAA tournament, too. Denver’s senior class is 8-2 in the postseason, with three semifinal appearances and a national title. Maryland’s seniors are 10-3 in the postseason and are the first class of Terps to make four final four trips since 1979.

W is for Ethan Walker, the Denver attackman who has set the school Division I record for points (70) and assists (32) as a freshman. The Ontario product by way of Culver Military Academy has five goals and five assists in the postseason.

X is for the X, and in this particular season (and with these particular teams), it bears even more monitoring than usual. Denver’s Trevor Baptiste (first in the country), Ohio State’s Jake Withers (fourth) and Towson’s Alex Woodall (11^th) all have won more than 60 percent of their draws. Maryland is the outlier, but can mix and match with Austin Henningsen, Jon Garino Jr. and Will Bonaparte and has earned a slight faceoff edge in both of its NCAA tournament games.

Y is for Bryce Young, a junior defenseman who stepped into a full-time starting role this season for the first time for Maryland. In addition to a pair of vital goals (against Ohio State in the Big Ten final and against Albany in the NCAA quarterfinals), Young has been a steady presence on a defense that is allowing just 7.9 goals per game during Maryland’s current five-game winning streak.

Z is for zero, the combined number of NCAA tournament games this month involving the four semifinalists that have been decided by less than three goals. Towson (3.5), Ohio State (4.0), Maryland (6.0) and Denver (9.5) all have healthy average margins of victory through two weekends of postseason play, and all four led by at least six goals entering the final period of their quarterfinal routs.