The 1988 tournament championship game was played at Syracuse University in front of 20,148 fans. The
Syracuse Orangemen
The Syracuse Orange are the athletic teams that represent Syracuse University. The school is a member of NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Until 2013, Syracuse was a member of the Big East Conference.
The school's mascot is ...
defeated the Cornell Big Red, 13-8 for the first of their three straight NCAA titles.
Tournament overview
The 1988 national champion Syracuse team is notable for being undefeated, 15–0, and for featuring the Gait brothers
Paul
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*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
*Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
and
Gary Gait
Gary Charles Gait (born April 5, 1967) is a Canadian retired Hall of Fame professional lacrosse player and currently the head coach of the men’s lacrosse team at Syracuse University, where he played the sport collegiately. On January 24, 2017, ...
. Syracuse was ranked number one in the nation for most of this year, had averaged just under 18 goals a game and had only one close game, an overtime win over North Carolina, during the regular season. They had defeated the second seed in the tournament, Johns Hopkins, 19 to 7 early in the season.
This NCAAs is also notable for being the tournament where Gary Gait took his famous
"Air Gait" shot in a close semi-final game against Tony Seaman's
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
team. Penn played a tough zone defense to try to contain the Gaits and Syracuse. Gary Gait saw a way around the zone, by running directly at the goal from behind and slam dunking the ball into the goal past the shocked goaltender. At that time, a player was allowed to both touch the goal and land in the crease, provided the ball had first crossed the goal line. Gait scored on two "Air Gait" plays in that game. The NCAA outlawed that type of play a short while later. Syracuse won this semifinal game against Penn on a goal by Paul Gait with 3 seconds left.
In a 23–5 quarterfinal win over Navy, Gary Gait scored a tournament record 9 goals.
Tournament results
:
''(i)'' one overtime
Tournament boxscores
Tournament Finals
Tournament Semi-Finals
Tournament Quarterfinals
Tournament First Round
See also
*
Undefeated Division I Men's National Champions
References
External links
"Air Gait" original Air Gait compilation on YouTube"Air Gait" on YouTube1988 Semifinals Syracuse v Penn "Air Gait" game, full game
{{NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championships
NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship
NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship
The NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament determines the annual top men's field lacrosse team in the NCAA Division I. This tournament has determined the national champion since the inaugural 1971 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse ...
1988 in lacrosse
NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse