There was a temptation to simply do a men’s lacrosse Memorial Day rundown by the numbers. After all, there are some options.

Five: the year of eligibility so many of the top remaining players in the field are in the midst of right now.

Four: the number of teams left in the field — namely, all of them — who have won a national title since 2014.

Three: the representation from the Atlantic Coast Conference in a year when its five teams have gone 39-3 against teams from other leagues.

Two: the total teams returning from the most recent final four in 2019 — Duke and Virginia.

And one: the number of programs who will enjoy a victory lap to cap a strange, pandemic-influenced season come Monday afternoon.

But the annual exercise is an alphabetic romp through the semifinalists, and there is no going back on it. Here, then, is the Division I men’s lacrosse final four, from A-to-Z.

A is for Justin Anderson.

The elder statesman on North Carolina’s first midfield line, the 25-year-old Las Vegas native just became a father on the eve of the NCAA tournament. Anderson has 25 goals and six assists as a fifth-year senior, one of six 20-goal scorers on the Tar Heels’ roster.

B is for Jared Bernhardt.

Maryland’s career leader in goals (195) and points (278) already has 11 goals in this NCAA tournament to solidify himself as the Tewaaraton favorite entering the season’s final weekend. Bernhardt came back for a fifth year and has run roughshod over the Terrapins’ opposition, rolling up a school-record 64 goals to go with 23 assists this spring.

C is for chalk.

The top four seeds in this year’s tournament have all advanced to the semifinals, an occurrence that historically isn’t particularly rare but has become less common in recent years. In the championship weekend era (since 1986), the top four seeds have comprised the semifinal contingent nine times (1987, 1990, 1993, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2018 and 2021), with the No. 1 seed beating the No. 2 seed in the final just once in that span, in 2005.

D is for Duke.

The Blue Devils (14-2) are the tournament’s No. 2 seed and are appearing in their second consecutive semifinal and 13th overall, including 12 since 2005. This is Duke’s 24th NCAA tournament appearance, and it is seeking its fourth national title (2010, 2013 and 2014) after defeating High Point (16-10) and Loyola (10-9 in overtime) to reach the final weekend.

E is for extra time.

... a scenario that suits Duke just fine. The Blue Devils are 4-0 in overtime games this season, including their quarterfinal triumph over Loyola. Two of those victories came against fellow semifinalists North Carolina (1-1 in overtime) and Virginia (0-1 in OT). Maryland’s defeat of Notre Dame in the quarterfinals was its first overtime game of the season.

F is for John Fox.

Along with long pole Jared Conners, the short stick is a two-time captain for Virginia and a key contributor in the defensive midfield. Fox is one of the Cavaliers’ steadier players, and will likely be on the field for many key shifts in the semifinals against North Carolina.

G is for Chris Gray.

The attackman has changed the trajectory of North Carolina’s program since his arrival in Chapel Hill. The former Boston University star has 46 goals and 40 assists this season for the Tar Heels, who are 20-2 since Gray joined the program. While Gray’s goal-scoring streak ended at 31 games in the quarterfinals, he’s still the central conduit of Carolina’s potent offense.

H is for Cole Herbert.

The freshman has started three games in a row for North Carolina in place of Tanner Cook, who returned from injury to come off the bench against Rutgers. Herbert has four goals and four assists in his first season as part of the Tar Heels’ deep midfield.

I is for insurance.

... an industry Hartford is well known for. This year’s championship weekend at Rentschler Field in nearby East Hartford will mark the first time the Hartford area (or Connecticut, for that matter) has played host to a Division I men’s lacrosse national title game. The same venue was used for a pair of 2019 quarterfinals, with both Penn State (over Loyola) and Yale (over Penn) advancing.

J is for John.

... the first name of two of the most successful postseason coaches in NCAA tournament history and whose latest meeting will come in Saturday’s second semifinal. Duke’s John Danowski is 35-18 (.660) and can tie former Brown and Virginia coach Dom Starsia for the second-most victories in tournament history if Duke advances. Maryland’s John Tillman (23-8 in 10 tournaments) owns a .742 postseason winning percentage, which ranks third all-time behind Hopkins’ Bob Scott (7-2, .778) and Henry Ciccarone (18-6, .750).

K is for the Kyle Kology.

A starter on a national title team two years ago, Kology and fellow defensemen Cole Kastner and Cade Saustad were unrelenting in a quarterfinal rout of Georgetown on Saturday — prompting Hoyas coach Kevin Warne to compare them to velociraptors made famous in the movie Jurassic Park. Virginia’s defense saved the best for last in 2019; might Kology (who has a team-best 23 caused turnovers) and the Cavaliers be following the same script this month?

L is for Ian Laviano.

The Virginia senior attackman has some history in the semifinals. He scored the tying goal in the final minute of regulation against Duke in 2019, then delivered the game-winner in double overtime. And with 121 career goals, Laviano is just four away from breaking into the top 10 in scoring in Cavalier history.

M is for Maryland.

The third-seeded Terrapins (14-0) are in the semifinals for the 27th time — tied with Syracuse for the second-most appearances in tournament history — and are making their eighth Memorial Day weekend appearance since 2011. The winners of three other NCAA tournaments (1973, 1975 and 2017), Maryland dispatched Vermont (17-11) and Notre Dame (14-13 in overtime) to advance to the semis.

N is for North Carolina.

The top-seeded Tar Heels (13-2) have reached the semifinals for the first time since 2016 and the 14th time overall in its 33rd postseason appearance. The Tar Heels own five national titles (1981, 1982, 1986, 1991 and 2016) and have made it to New England after handling Monmouth (16-4) and Rutgers (12-11 in overtime) in the first two weekends of the tournament.

O is for Brennan O’Neill.

The Duke freshman was expected to make a significant impact in his first season, and he has delivered with a 44-goal, 10-assist campaign to open his career. The 6-2, 230-pounder has nine man-up goals on the season and has recorded 13 consecutive multi-goal games entering the semifinals.

P is for Roman Puglise.

The senior is a mainstay on Maryland’s defensive midfield, a group whose depth has proven to be especially valuable this season. In addition to Puglise, the Terps lean on the likes of junior Joshua Coffman and senior Alex Smith, with Coffman proving to be especially valuable in the transition game.

Q is for Kevin Quigley and Regan Quinn.

Quigley, a graduate student and midfielder for Duke, has a goal in 12 games for the Blue Devils and is a repeat selection in this exercise. Quinn, a junior midfielder with five goals and three assists in 13 games, also earns a mention with this often-tricky letter.

R is for Alex Rode.

One of the stars of Virginia’s championship run two years ago when he posted a .615 save percentage to earn most outstanding player honors, Rode owns a .549 save percentage as a senior. He now has the chance to become the first Cavalier goalie to start on two NCAA title teams.

S is for Michael Sowers.

One of three Tewaaraton finalists remaining in the field, the Princeton graduate transfer has 35 goals and 44 assists in his lone season at Duke. Sowers, who was Princeton’s career leader in assists (181) and points (302), might not be as dominant a figure in the Blue Devils’ offense as he was in the Ivy League. Yet his quickness and vision have predictably made a major impact on Duke’s offense this spring.

T is for transfers.

Sowers is the headliner, but all four teams added options in the transfer market that have paid off. Duke also picked up goalie Mike Adler (.537 save percentage) from Saint Joseph’s; Maryland has leaned on Griffin Brown (Colgate) and Eric Holden (Hobart) on its second midfield line; North Carolina’s game-winning goal in the quarterfinals was scored by former Princeton Tiger Connor McCarthy; and ex-Merrimack attackman Charlie Bertrand has 24 goals and seven assists for Virginia.

U is for undefeated.

There is an unblemished team playing on Memorial Day weekend for the first time since Cornell was perfect heading into the 2007 semifinals. But 14-0 Maryland hopes to do even better than the Big Red. Somewhat recent teams the Terrapins would like to model themselves on? Try 2005 Johns Hopkins (16-0) and 2006 Virginia (17-0), which both went undefeated en route to their respective titles.

V is for Virginia.

The fourth-seeded Cavaliers (12-4) are appearing in back-to-back semifinals and their 24th overall. In the midst of its 40th NCAA tournament appearance, Virginia is a six-time champion (1972, 1999, 2003, 2006, 2011 and 2019) with victories over Bryant (13-11) and Georgetown (14-3) to earn a place on championship weekend.

W is for Dyson Williams.

The Duke sophomore had scored in every game of his college career prior to Sunday’s quarterfinal against Loyola. Nonetheless, the Canadian effectively transitioned from attack to midfield for the Blue Devils and has 21 goals and two assists on the season.

X is for the X.

As it always is. It’s also where, by the numbers, Maryland is at a disadvantage relative to the rest of the final four competition. Virginia ranks 10th nationally with a .612 faceoff percentage, followed by Duke at 12th (.590), North Carolina at 18th (.545) and Maryland at 38th (.477). Some individual rankings: Duke freshman Jake Naso (.637) is seventh, Virginia’s Petey LaSalla (.634) is 10th, North Carolina’s Zac Tucci (.575) and Andrew Tyeryar (.526) are 20th and 33rd, respectively, and Maryland’s Justin Shockey (.518) is 37th nationally.

Y is for yesteryear.

... which this particular final four does a fine job of evoking. It’s the first time Duke, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia have been brought together for a two-games-in-three-days showdown for a championship since Maryland departed the ACC for the Big Ten in the summer of 2014, and there’s a sense of familiarity with bringing together these four storied programs with so much at stake. Well, except for the part about competing in New England, which is technically within the ACC’s broader footprint (though not for men’s lacrosse).

Z is for Ajax Zappitello.

It’s a rare day when you don’t have to dig too far to find an end-of-the-alphabet answer to close out this annual exercise. Zappitello, a freshman from Portland, Ore., is a long pole and man-down specialist for Maryland who has played in all but one game this season and has collected three ground balls in his niche role for the Terps.