Lincoln Financial Field

Duke and Denver will join Cornell and top-seeded Syracuse in the NCAA Division I men's lacrosse Final Four this weekend at Lincoln Financial Field. David Lawson scored his career-best fifth goal with 2 minutes, 16 seconds remaining to lift seventh-seeded Duke to a 12-11 win over No. 2 Notre Dame (11-5) in the quarterfinals Sunday in Indianapolis. In their seventh consecutive trip to the Final Four, the Blue Devils (14-5) will play Cornell at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Linc. Duke won the national championship in 2010.

The Cabrini men's lacrosse team will visit Rochester Institute on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament. Cabrini beat Springfield, 20-8, in the first round on May 1 and will advance to the quarterfinals Wednesday with a victory. The Division III title game will be May 26 at Lincoln Financial Field. The Linc will also host the Division I semifinals on May 25 at 2:30 and 5 p.m. and the championship on May 27 at 1 p.m. The Division II championship game is set for May 26 at the Linc.

Your wedding inside the Linc? Why not? The Eagles announced yesterday that Lincoln Financial Field will be available to host special events, such as corporate events, banquets, trade shows, product launches and even weddings. Since its opening in 2003, the stadium has been available for only a small number of events each year, mostly for charitable causes. The Eagles said areas from the 45,000-square foot SCA Club to the locker room could be set up for specific events.

The Eagles' newest player is a real powerhouse. The stats are electrifying: On a recent sunny day, this bulky unit churned out 21,033.7 kilowatt hours, nearly enough to power two average homes for a year. Yes, the long-awaited solar panels and wind turbines at Lincoln Financial Field are up and running. More than 11,000 panels have been positioned atop the roof, over some of the parking spots, and armoring the side of the building along I-95. Those are the workhorses.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers junior cornerback Logan Ryan said that he bled Eagles green while attending Eastern High in Voorhees, and that is another reason Saturday's game at Lincoln Financial Field against Temple will have a special significance. It's not just because Rutgers (6-0, 3-0 Big East) and Temple (3-2, 2-0) are unbeaten in conference play. It's also because Ryan has seen his share of football at the Linc. "It's going to be a dream come true," Ryan said about playing at the Eagles stadium.

The U.S. bid committee hoping to stage the World Cup in 2018 or 2022 sent initial letters last week to public officials and stadium operators of 70 potential sites in 50 markets for soccer's showcase tournament. Among those contacted was Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles' interest in hosting matches is unclear, but the stadium has been used for international soccer events in the past and will host a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinal doubleheader July 18. Six of the stadiums used for the 1994 tournament were contacted, including Soldier Field in Chicago; the Cotton Bowl in Dallas; the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando; the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

The Temple Owls have their own locker room, complete with cherry-red metal lockers, at Lincoln Financial Field. Temple's 2003 schedule scrolled on the electronic boards during a media open house at the new stadium yesterday. Yes, it looks as if the Owls will play their home football games at the Eagles' new stadium after all. The two sides have agreed to the basics of a deal, a source familiar with the negotiations said. There were some details to work out, and they are holding up an announcement, but it would be a shock if Temple played its games anywhere else this year.

THEY HELD a soccer match at Lincoln Financial Field a few weeks before the first Eagles game in 2003. In the restaurant business, this would be called a soft opening. Don Smolenski, who was the Eagles CFO at the time, and team president Joe Banner headed out into the concourse to check things out. They discovered a rather sizable problem that showed why soft openings are a good idea. "For the soccer game, we realized that our signage was confusing," recalled Smolenski, now the team's president.

The Eagles are in their 10th season at Lincoln Financial Field, where they've posted a 45-34 regular-season record and a 4-2 mark in the postseason. In that same span, they are 46-32-1 on the road. So much for home-field advantage. Even so, here is a look at some of the most significant Eagles moments at the stadium: Sept. 8, 2003: The Linc opened with a thud as Tampa Bay, which closed Veterans Stadium by stunning the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game 9 months earlier, shut out the Eagles, 17-0.

The inaugural event at Lincoln Financial Field will be a football game, but not the sort local fans might have expected in the new home of the Eagles. A match between British soccer power Manchester United and another international club team will be the first game played next year in the new stadium, Eagles president Joe Banner announced yesterday. The soccer match in Philadelphia, the last stop in a planned four-city U.S. tour by Manchester United, is scheduled for Aug. 3 at 8 p.m. The opponent is expected to be announced later this week.

The Eagles received NFL backing on Tuesday to proceed with plans to renovate Lincoln Financial Field, team president Don Smolenski said. "We are excited to have received league support today for our stadium revitalization project at Lincoln Financial Field," Smolenski said in a statement. "We will share the details of this project with our fans in the coming weeks. " The project was approved on Monday during the spring owners' meetings in Boston. While a formal announcement is forthcoming, the Eagles have spoken freely about some of the modernizations they had planned for their stadium, including bringing the jumbo video screens up to high definition standards.

In just seven minutes, his team trailed by seven goals. But the coach's plan was working just fine. It was Bill Tierney's first game as coach at the University of Denver in 2010. He wanted the Pioneers to get a taste of big-time college lacrosse and they opened the season with a 15-9 loss at Syracuse's Carrier Dome. The freshmen who were on that Denver team are now seniors. On Saturday, the fourth-seeded Pioneers (14-4) will have a chance to show how far they have come when they meet No. 1 Syracuse (15-3)

Duke and Denver will join Cornell and top-seeded Syracuse in the NCAA Division I men's lacrosse Final Four this weekend at Lincoln Financial Field. David Lawson scored his career-best fifth goal with 2 minutes, 16 seconds remaining to lift seventh-seeded Duke to a 12-11 win over No. 2 Notre Dame (11-5) in the quarterfinals Sunday in Indianapolis. In their seventh consecutive trip to the Final Four, the Blue Devils (14-5) will play Cornell at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Linc. Duke won the national championship in 2010.

FIGHTING FOR a casino in the city is a team sport. Supporters of the six groups seeking to win the city's second casino license gave an earful to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board yesterday at a public hearing at Lincoln Financial Field. A letter from City Council President Darrell Clarke praised developer Bart Blatstein. James White, former city managing director, endorsed PHL Local Gaming's Casino Revolution. Work ethic and track records were cited, community dedication was touted.

Traffic's constant vibration, especially after sports events, has left her home near the stadium complex and those of her neighbors "crumbling," Judy Cerrone says, tearing up their foundations. "We absolutely don't want a casino south of Oregon Avenue. We are prisoners of our homes," said Cerrone, president of Stadium Community Council, a civic group. She was among about 60 people who spoke Wednesday to the state Gaming Control Board about the possible effects of a second Philadelphia gambling hall.

NEW COACH Chip Kelly has touted an even competition between Michael Vick and Nick Foles for the Eagles' starting quarterback position, but given the reworked 1-year, $10 million contract the Birds gave Vick, most of us figure he is likely to emerge as the starter. That's pretty much what receiver Jeremy Maclin thinks, as well. Maclin was asked yesterday, if he had to guess, who will be No. 1? "Right now, you've got Mike going with the 'ones' and Nick sprinkling in some reps here and there, so . . . " Maclin said at his Lincoln Financial Field charity event honoring five moms of kids he met through his summer football camp in West Deptford, N.J., where Maclin lives.

The Cabrini men's lacrosse team will visit Rochester Institute on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament. Cabrini beat Springfield, 20-8, in the first round on May 1 and will advance to the quarterfinals Wednesday with a victory. The Division III title game will be May 26 at Lincoln Financial Field. The Linc will also host the Division I semifinals on May 25 at 2:30 and 5 p.m. and the championship on May 27 at 1 p.m. The Division II championship game is set for May 26 at the Linc.

THIS YEAR'S City All-Star Football Classic will include a missing Linc. As in . . . The 39th annual game, featuring Philly's top high school seniors in a Public/Non-Public format, will not be played at the Eagles' Lincoln Financial Field, as had been the case the last 3 years. To say Brian Fluck, West Catholic's coach and president of the organization that runs the game, is disappointed, is to put it mildly. He remains especially bewildered by the fact he tried to finalize plans for this year's game - now set for May 18, 7 p.m., at Northeast High - a shade before Thanksgiving and didn't receive an official ya-gotta-look-elsewhere statement from Eagles brass until mid-February.

May is going to be a busy month for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Commissioners will hold three hearings on three consecutive days in Philadelphia. First up: a review at 2 p.m. May 7 at the National Constitution Center, 525 Arch St., on the revised expansion plans for the SugarHouse Casino. It's been four years since the Sugar- House folks got the OK from commis- sioners to expand their waterfront casino on North Delaware Avenue. And it's been two years since City Council and the planning commission also signed off on plans.

The Eagles' newest player is a real powerhouse. The stats are electrifying: On a recent sunny day, this bulky unit churned out 21,033.7 kilowatt hours, nearly enough to power two average homes for a year. Yes, the long-awaited solar panels and wind turbines at Lincoln Financial Field are up and running. More than 11,000 panels have been positioned atop the roof, over some of the parking spots, and armoring the side of the building along I-95. Those are the workhorses.