| Gender: | Men's |
| Year: | 1990 |
| Dates: | May 1990 |
| Teams: | 12 |
| Finalscity: | Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Finalsfield: | Rutgers Stadium |
| Champions: | Syracuse (vacated) |
| Coach: | Roy Simmons Jr. (vacated) |
| Runnerup: | Loyola Maryland |
| Gamecount: | 1st |
| Semifinal1: | North Carolina |
| Finalfourcount1: | 9th |
| Semifinal2: | Yale |
| Finalfourcount2: | 1st |
| Mop: | Gary Gait |
| Mopteam: | Syracuse |
| Topscorer: | Gary Gait |
| Topscorerteam: | Syracuse |
| Goals: | 23 |
| Attendfinals: | 19,070 |
| Attendtotal: | 57,418 |
| Attendref: | [1] |
The 1990 NCAA Division I lacrosse tournament was the 20th annual tournament hosted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to determine the team champion of men's college lacrosse among its Division I programs, held at the end of the 1990 NCAA Division I men's lacrosse season.
Syracuse defeated Loyola Maryland in the championship game, 21–9. However, Syracuse's participation in the tournament was later vacated by the NCAA Committee on infractions because coach Roy Simmons, Jr.'s wife co-signed a car loan with Paul Gait.
The championship game was played at Rutgers Stadium at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey, with 19,070 fans in attendance.
Due to the violations, Roy Simmons, Jr.'s 3–0 record. as well as Paul Gait's 7 goals and 7 assists in this tournament, are not recognized by the NCAA.
Generally considered one of the best teams in NCAA lacrosse history, the 1990 Syracuse team is notable for finishing undefeated and featuring the Gait brothers—Paul and Gary Gait—and hall-of-famer Tom Marechek.
The Orangemen won three consecutive titles from 1988 to 1990. They became the first team to win three in a row since Johns Hopkins from 1978 to 1980. The 1990 team scored more than 20 goals in 10 games this season, including 20 or more goals over the three NCAA tournament teams. Their closest game was a 15–12 win over Penn. During the Gaits' four years at Syracuse, the team went 50–5 and won three straight national titles (one of which was vacated by the NCAA).
Jon Reese had a tremendous season for Yale, leading Yale to a 15–1 regular season while scoring an NCAA record 82 goals out of the midfield. This was Yale's second only NCAA tournament appearance, where they received the second seed in the tournament. The Bulldogs ultimately making it to the Final Four.[2] [3]
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Syracuse | 3 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 21 |
| Loyola | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 9 |
|
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Syracuse | 6 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 21 |
| North Carolina | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
|
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT1 | OT2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loyola Maryland | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| Yale | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
|
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Syracuse | 7 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 20 |
| Brown | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 12 |
Attendance: 11,533 |
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 3 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 18 |
| Harvard | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Attendance: 869 |
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loyola Maryland | 3 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 19 |
| Rutgers | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 10 |
Beach 2, Todd Sloper, Ted Nichols
Locker, John Mone
Attendance: 2,784 |
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yale | 3 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 17 |
| Princeton | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
Attendance: 3,540 |