1978 NCAA Division I lacrosse tournament explained

Gender:	Men's
Year:	1978
Dates:	May 17–27, 1978
Teams:	8
Finalsfield:	Rutgers Stadium
Finalscity:	Piscataway, New Jersey
Champions:	Johns Hopkins
Titlecount:	2nd
Coach:	Henry Ciccarone
Coachcount:	1st
Runnerup:	Cornell
Gamecount:	4th
Semifinal1:	Maryland
Finalfourcount1:	8th
Semifinal2:	Navy
Finalfourcount2:	5th
Mop:	Mike O’Neill
Mopteam:	Johns Hopkins
Topscorer:	Mike O’Neill
Topscorerteam:	Johns Hopkins
Goals:	15
Attendfinals:	13,527
Attendtotal:	28,587
Attendref:	^[1]

The 1978 NCAA Division I lacrosse tournament was the eighth annual tournament hosted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to determine the team champion of men's college lacrosse among its Division I programs at the end of the 1978 NCAA Division I lacrosse season.

Johns Hopkins defeated Cornell in the championship game, 13–8, using a three-goal performance by midfielder Bob DeSimone. This was the Blue Jays' second national title. Before this loss, Cornell had come into the game on a 42-game unbeaten streak and had not lost a game since May 24, 1975, a 15–12 setback to Navy in the 1975 NCAA tournament semifinals.

The championship game was hosted at Rutgers Stadium on the campus of Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. The game grew a crowd of 13,527 fans.

Overview

Twelve NCAA Division I college men's lacrosse teams met after having played their way through a regular season, and for some, a conference tournament.

The finals was a showdown of the #1 and #2 ranked teams, with Johns Hopkins lone loss coming on April 15 to Cornell (16–11) at Homewood Field in Baltimore. Up until this game, Hopkins had lost only three games in the prior two seasons, all losses to Cornell.

Before their finals loss, Cornell set the NCAA consecutive victories record of 42 games, not losing a game from March 20, 1976, to May 20, 1978. During this win streak, Cornell was 16-0 in 1976, 13-0 in 1977 and 13-1 in 1978. This was the first game since 1975 in which Cornell had been limited to less than 10 goals.

Mike O'Neill, attackman from Johns Hopkins, was later named the Division 1 National Player of the Year and was named the tournament outstanding player, finishing with one goal and three assists in the finals. Johns Hopkins would go on to win three straight national titles and appear in an unprecedented nine straight NCAA finals, from 1977 through 1985, finishing with five national titles against four losses during that stretch. Ned Radebaugh dominated at face off winning 20 of 22 draws, with Radebaugh's dominance contributing to the NCAA's decision for the 1979 season to eliminate faceoffs.^[2] ^[3] ^[4]

Box scores

Finals

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Johns Hopkins (13–1)	2	5	2	4	13
Cornell (13–1)	2	3	2	1	8
Johns Hopkins scoring – Bob DeSimone 3, Wayne Davis 2, Scott Baugher 2, Jim Bidne 2, Dave Huntley, Joe Devlin, Mike O’Neill, Frank Cutrone Cornell scoring – Bob Henrickson 3, Steve Page 2, Keith Reitenbach, Tom Marino, John Sierra Shots: Cornell 41, Johns Hopkins 48 Saves: Cornell - John Griffin 17, Johns Hopkins - Mike Federico 11

Semifinals

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Johns Hopkins	2	7	5	3	17
Maryland	4	3	3	1	11
Johns Hopkins scoring – Mike O’Neill 4, Dave Huntley 4, Bob DeSimone 3, Joe Devlin 3, Jim Zaffuto 2, Scott Baugher Maryland scoring – John Lamon 4, Barry Mitchell 2, Terry Kimball 2, Bob Ott, Bob Boneillo, Rich Moyer Shots: Johns Hopkins 56, Maryland 47

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Cornell	5	2	3	3	13
Navy	1	2	2	2	7
Cornell scoring – Tom Marino 4, Steve Page 3, Bob Henrickson 3, Ned Gerber 2, John Sierra Navy scoring – Mike Hannan 3, Mike Buzzell, Brendan Schneck, Jim Shulson, John Holmes Shots: Cornell 44, Navy 34

Quarterfinals

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Cornell	4	4	1	3	12
Washington and Lee	0	0	1	1	2
Cornell scoring – Steve Page 2, Bob Henrickson 2, Tom Marino 2, Charlie Wood 2, Craig Jaeger, John Sierra, Chris Kane, Keith Reitenbach Wash. & Lee scoring – Jay Foster, John Kemp Shots: Cornell 44, Wash. & Lee 35

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Navy	3	3	6	4	16
Army	2	6	2	3	13
Navy scoring – Mike Hannan 6, Mike Buzzell 5, Brendan Schneck 2, Roger Sexauer, Jim Hamill, Mike Chanenchuk Army scoring – Jim Pappafotis 3, Scott Finley 3, Ted Harkin 2, Joe Fetzer, Dave Reeves, Tom Endres, Ken Curley, Pete Linskey Shots: Army 45, Navy 45

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Maryland	5	1	5	4	15
Virginia	1	3	1	5	10
Maryland scoring – Terry Kimball 5, Pete Worstell 3, Bob Ott 2, John Lamon 2, Barry Mitchell, Drew Tyrie, Rick Moyer Virginia scoring – Emmett Voekel 4, Paul O’Brien 2, Tom Holman, Mark Dorney, Kris Snider, John Driscoll Shots: Maryland 42, Virginia 39

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Johns Hopkins	6	4	5	5	20
Hofstra	1	2	2	3	8
Johns Hopkins scoring – Bob DeSimone 3, Dave Huntley 3, Scott Baugher 3, Mike O'Neill 3, Jeff Blomquist 2, Joe Devlin, Jim Bidne, Ned Radebaugh, Wayne Davis, Jim Zaffuto Hofstra scoring – Kevin Smith 2, Richard Stoecker 2, Vince Sembrotto 2, Gary Burton, Kevin Huff Shots: Johns Hopkins 49, Hofstra 34

Outstanding players

Mike O’Neill, Johns Hopkins, tournament Most Outstanding Player

Leading scorers

Name	GP	G	A	Pts
Mike O'Neill, Johns Hopkins	3	8	7	15
Scott Baugher, Johns Hopkins	3	6	6	12
Bob DeSimone, Johns Hopkins	3	9	2	11
Bob Henrickson, Cornell	3	8	3	11
Mike Buzzell, Navy	2	6	4	10
Mike Hannan, Navy	2	9	1	10
Dave Huntley, Johns Hopkins	3	8	2	10
Terry Kimball, Maryland	2	7	3	10
Steve Page, Cornell	3	3	7	10
John Lamon, Maryland	2	6	3	9

External links

Notes and References

Web site: NCAA Lacrosse Division I Results / Records. NCAA. 24 April 2014. 3 (51).
Web site: The Harvard Crimson . 2008-06-28 . thecrimson.com.
Associated Press. Hopkins Stuns Cornell. The Syracuse Herald Journal. May 28, 1978. pg. 17
Associated Press. Cornell, Hopkins square off. The Capital. May 26, 1978. pg. 20