1972 NCAA lacrosse tournament

The 1972 NCAA lacrosse tournament was the second annual tournament hosted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to determine the team champion of college lacrosse among its members in the United States.

1972 NCAA Division I men's
lacrosse tournament
DatesMay 20–June 3, 1972
Teams8
Finals siteByrd Stadium
Maryland College Park, Maryland
ChampionsVirginia (1st title)
Runner-upJohns Hopkins (1st title game)
SemifinalistsCortland State (1st Final Four)
Maryland (2nd Final Four)
Winning coachGlenn Thiel (1st title)
MOPJay Connor, Virginia
Attendance[1]7,001 finals
Top scorerJay Connor, Virginia
(13 goals)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments
«1971 1973»

This was the last NCAA championship in which the Wingate Memorial Trophy was also presented to the national champion. Prior to NCAA Lacrosse Championships, the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) awarded the Wingate Memorial Trophy to the NCAA annual champion based on regular season records.

Virginia, led by coach Glenn Thiel, defeated Johns Hopkins in the championship game, 13–12. The victory gave Virginia its first NCAA championship in lacrosse and its third overall (including USILA titles in 1952 and 1970). The victory also gave Virginia its first official NCAA national title in any sport.

The championship game was played at Byrd Stadium at the University of Maryland in front of a crowd of 7,001 fans.

Overview

As in 1971, teams were first selected from the college lacrosse divisions, and then at-large teams were chosen. Army, Navy, Maryland and Johns Hopkins were selected as "seeded" picks. And Virginia, Cortland, Rutgers and Washington & Lee were picked as the at-large teams.

Virginia had USILA player of the year Pete Eldredge, who finished with four goals in the finals scoring the game winner with four minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers had lost to Hopkins, Maryland and Navy during the regular season.

Maryland, the pre-tournament favorite and host team, fell in the semifinals to Johns Hopkins, 9-6, before 8,000 fans.

The Cavaliers survived a late rush by Jack Thomas, who with 12 seconds left in the game appeared to have a clear shot at the net. Bob Scott however had, unknown to the ball players called a timeout, negating what would have been a last-second game-tying attempt.

This tournament saw the entry in the tournament of two early innovative lacrosse programs, Cortland State and Washington and Lee. Cortland was notable for going 14-2 that season while knocking off defending champion Cornell, Syracuse and Navy, and earning the number 3 seed in the tournament. Cortland was coached by Jack Emmer who later took Washington and Lee to consecutive NCAAs before moving on to be the longtime coach at Army.

Paced by veterans Jay Connor, Tom Duquette, Pete Eldredge and Chip Barker as well as freshman Richie Werner, Virginia got the winning goal from Eldredge, unassisted with 4:11 left in the contest. Maryland, the pre-tourney favorite, fell in the semifinals to Johns Hopkins 9–6. Connor, the tourney’s leading scorer, set a meet record for assists. Maryland’s John Kaestner broke the single-game assist mark. Virginia and Johns Hopkins combined to shatter all three of the tournament records for shots on goal.

In the first round, Jack Emmer's Cortland team edged Navy 10 to 9 in double overtime, led by Paul Wehrum's 3 goals. Cortland scored three goals in the fourth quarter to erase a 9–6 deficit and won the game despite being outshot by Navy 57–28.[2][3][4][5]

Bracket
Quarterfinals
May 20 		Semifinals
May 27 		Championship
June 3
         
1 Maryland (8-1) 9
8 Rutgers (9-3) 3
1 Maryland 6
4 Johns Hopkins 9
4 Johns Hopkins (9-1) 11
5 Washington and Lee (12-2) 5
4 Johns Hopkins (11–2) 12
2 Virginia (11–4) 13
3 Cortland State (13-1) 10(ii)
6 Navy (8-3) 9
3 Cortland State 7
2 Virginia 14
2 Virginia (8-4) 10
7 Army (8-2) 7
  • (ii) two overtimes

Box scores

Finals
Team1234Total
Virginia (11–4)431513
Johns Hopkins (11–2)324312
  • Virginia scoring – Pete Eldredge 4, Richie Werner 3, Chip Barker 3, Tom Duquette 2, Jay Connor
  • Johns Hopkins scoring – Bill Nolan 4, Gary Handleman 2, Jack Thomas 2, Don Krohn 2, Richard Kowalchuk, Pat Sinram
  • Shots: Virginia 44, Johns Hopkins 33
  • Saves: Virginia 13, Johns Hopkins 10

Semifinals
Team1234Total
Virginia254314
Cortland State (14–2)11237
  • Virginia scoring – Jay Connor 3, Pete Eldredge 3, Richie Werner 3, Tom Duquette, Chip Barker, Jim Ulman, George Turner, Doug Cooper
  • Cortland St. scoring – Paul Wehrum 3, John Eberenz 2, Bert Severns, Ken McEwan
  • Shots: Virginia 59, Cortland St. 31
Team1234Total
Johns Hopkins31419
Maryland13206
  • Johns Hopkins scoring – Bill Nolan 2, Jack Thomas 2, Kenneth Winegrad, Gary Handleman, Richard Kowalchuk, Mike Perez, William McCutcheon
  • Maryland scoring – John Kaestner 3, Dave Dempsey 2, Pat O’Meally
  • Shots: Maryland 38, Johns Hopkins 34

Quarterfinals
Team1234Total
Maryland13329
Rutgers00033
  • Maryland scoring – Ed Mullen 3, Brooks Sleeper 3 Larry Hubbard, Dino Mattesich, Pat O’Meally, Dave Dempsey
  • Rutgers scoring – Randy Bornoff, Mike Rinck, Bob Carney
  • Shots: Maryland 39, Rutgers 23
Team1234Total
Johns Hopkins235111
Washington and Lee20125
  • Johns Hopkins scoring – Bill Nolan 3, Gary Handleman 2, Pat Sinram, Paul Edwards, Mike Perez, Kenneth Winegrad, Don Krohn, Eric Bergofsky
  • Wash. & Lee scoring – Sam Englehart 2, Dave Warfield, Skip Lichtfuss, Brian Chasney
  • Shots: Johns Hopkins 68, Wash. & Lee 34
Team1234Total
Virginia332210
Army20103
  • Virginia scoring – Tom Duquette 3, Chip Barker 3, Doug Cooper 2, Pete Eldredge, Rick Beach
  • Army scoring – Russ Bolling, Rick Goodhand, Phil Lynch
  • Shots: Virginia 51, Army 37
Team1234OT1OT2Total
Cortland State04231010
Navy4140009
  • Cortland St. scoring – Paul Wehrum 3, Bert Severns 2, John Eberenz 2, Ken McEwan 2, Sal Taormina
  • Navy scoring – Dave Bayly 2, Nick Smilari 2, Chris Virtue, Chris Ladd, Marty Mason, Tim Supko, Kim McCauley
  • Shots: Navy 57, Cortland St. 28

Outstanding player
  • Jay Connor, Virginia, 13 points, Tournament Leading Scorer

The NCAA did not designate a Most Outstanding Player until the 1977 national tournament.
The Tournament outstanding player listed here is the tournament leading scorer.

References
  1. "NCAA Lacrosse Division I Results / Records" (PDF). NCAA. p. 3 (51). Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  2. "1972 NCAA Spring Championship Review" (PDF). NCAA News. June 25, 1972. pp. Page 4 of 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 3, 2006. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
  3. Associated Press. Virginia Tops Jays For Lacrosse Title. The Cumberland Times. June 4, 1972. pg. 42
  4. "Virginia Wins Lacrosse Title". The Free Lance-Star. June 5, 1972. pp. Page 4 of 10.
  5. "Cortland Men's Lacrosse Team Guides". SUNY Cortland. 2008.
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