1978 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship

The 1978 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament was the 8th annual Division I NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament. 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.

1978 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship
Dates	May 1978
Teams	8
Finals site	Rutgers University
Champions	Johns Hopkins (2nd title)
Runner-up	Cornell
MOP	Mike O’Neill, Hopkins
Attendance[1]	13,527 finals 28,587 total
NCAA Division I Men's Championships «1977 1979»

Tournament overview

The championship game was hosted by Rutgers University, and was played in front of 13,527 fans. The game saw the Johns Hopkins University defeat Cornell University by the score of 13–8, using a three-goal performance by midfielder Bob DeSimone.

The finals was a showdown of the Number 1 and Number 2 ranked teams, with Johns Hopkins lone loss coming on April 15th to Cornell 16-11 at Homewood Field in Baltimore.

The finals was notable also as Cornell had come into the game on a 42-game unbeaten streak. Cornell had not lost a game since May 24, 1975, a 15-12 setback to Navy in the 1975 NCAA tournament semifinals. Cornell set the NCAA consecutive victories record of 42 games, not losing from March 20, 1976, to May 20, 1978. During this win streak, Cornell was 16 and 0 in 1976, 13 and 0 in 1977 and 13 and 1 in 1978.

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.[2][3][4]

Tournament results

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals May 20					Championship May 27
	1	Cornell	12
	8	Washington and Lee	2
						1	Cornell	13
						4	Navy	7
	4	Navy	16
	5	Army	13
											1	Cornell (13–1)	8
											2	Johns Hopkins (13–1)	13
	3	Maryland	15
	6	Virginia	10
						3	Maryland	11
						2	Johns Hopkins	17
	2	Johns Hopkins	20
	7	Hofstra	8

Tournament boxscores

Tournament 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

Tournament Semi-Finals

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

Tournament 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

Tournament 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

References

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

External links

• 1978 Championship Game at YouTube
• Hopkins Stuns Cornell in Lax Final Harvard Crimson May 31, 1978