1978 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship
# 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.

## 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 15 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 a game 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. 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.

## Tournament results

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

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 |
