The 1973 NCAA lacrosse tournament was the third annual

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

hosted by the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

to determine the team champion of

college lacrosse College lacrosse is played by student-athletes at colleges and university, universities in the United States and Canada. In both countries, men's field lacrosse and women's lacrosse are played at both the varsity and club levels. College lacrosse ...

among its members in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Undefeated

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, led by coach

Bud Beardmore Clayton Albert "Bud" Beardmore (October 26, 1939 – January 20, 2016) was an American lacrosse coach. As head coach at the University of Maryland, Beardmore led the Terrapins to two NCAA tournament championships in 1973 and 1975. He was indu ...

and Hall of Fame midfielder

Frank Urso Frank Urso (born 1954) is a former American lacrosse player and current high school lacrosse coach, best known for his collegiate career at the University of Maryland from 1973 to 1976. During those four years, Maryland won two national champions ...

, defeated

Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he remained for mos ...

in the championship game, 10–9 after two overtimes, with Urso scoring the winning goal one minute and 18 seconds into the second overtime. The final was played at

Franklin Field Franklin Field is a sports stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the eastern edge of the University of Pennsylvania's campus. Named after Penn's founder, Benjamin Franklin, it is the home stadium for the Penn Relays, and the university's ve ...

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in front of a crowd of 5,965 fans.

Overview

The top eight teams in the season-ending lacrosse coaches poll were selected to play in the 1973 tournament. Johns Hopkins defeated Virginia 12-9 and Maryland beat Washington and Lee 18–5 to reach the national championship game. The win represented Maryland's eighth overall men's lacrosse National Title, but first under the newly instituted NCAA lacrosse tournament format. Bud Beardmore was named USILA Coach of the Year. Prior to the Hopkins overtime win, the Terrapins closest game was a five-goal victory against UMBC. Maryland had beaten Hopkins 17 to 4 in the regular season about a month prior to the finals. In the Terps' ten games, they averaged 17 goals per game and held opponents to 6 goals per game. Johns Hopkins used a possession game to counter the Terrapins' top rated offense, which resulted in over fifteen minutes of limited-shooting possessions by the Blue Jays in the first half. Maryland countered with patient and mistake-free defensive play to offset the stall tactic though Frank Urso was able to get free to score three goals. Hopkins held the ball for the first 10:45 of the game with the first shot of the game not being taken until over eight minutes had passed. Hopkins' tactics worked initially as the Blue Jays took a 5–2 lead at halftime. Maryland overcame Johns Hopkins' possession game in the second half, outscoring the Jays 8–4 in the second half. However, the Jays still had a 9-7 lead with just under 5 minutes to play in the game. The winning goal came in the second overtime for the 10–9 victory. Urso scored the goal taking a solo run and converting a 15-yard bounce shot. Since this was not a sudden-death overtime period, Maryland held for the final three minutes to win the contest. The Terps had encountered little resistance on their way to the title as they downed Brown 16-4 and Washington and Lee 18–7 in the first two rounds. Johns Hopkins had disposed of Army 11-5 and the defending national champion Virginia 12–9. Washington and Lee goalie Skeet Chadwick had 55 saves in two tournament games. Washington and Lee, a recent addition to the top tier of teams, beat Navy in a three overtime marathon 13–12 in the first round. The two teams each scored two goals in the non-sudden death first overtime period with Washington and Lee scoring the winning goal 16 seconds into the 3rd sudden-death overtime period. Washington and Lee was undefeated coming into the semifinals, with regular season wins over North Carolina, Towson and Princeton. Jack Thomas of Johns Hopkins had 11 tournament assists and was the tournament leading scorer. Maryland was the first Undefeated Division I national champion, and also the last, accomplishing this as well in 2022. Associated Press. ''Terps gain stick title''. THE CAPITAL. June 4, 1973. pg. 33

Bracket

* ^''(ii)'' two overtimes * ^''(iii)'' three overtimes

Box scores

Final

* 6/02/1973 at

Semifinals

Quarterfinals

Outstanding players

The NCAA did not designate a Most Outstanding Player until the 1977 national tournament.

External links

Sports Illustrated: Not Quite A Terrapin Stew, SI write-up on National Title game

References

{{1972–73 NCAA University Division championships navbox NCAA Division I men's lacrosse tournament

NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship The NCAA Division I men's lacrosse tournament is an annual tournament organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA to determine the national champion of men's college lacrosse, collegiate field lacrosse among its NCAA Division ...