The 1975 NCAA Division I lacrosse tournament was the fifth 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 men's

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 Division I programs at the end of the 1975 NCAA Division I lacrosse season.

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 ...

defeated

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

in the championship game, 20–13, the Terrapins' second national title in three years. The championship game was played at

Homewood Field Homewood Field is the athletics stadium of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. History It was built in 1906 and has an official capacity of 8,500 people. The name is taken, as is that of the entire campus, from the name of th ...

on the campus of

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, featuring a crowd of 10,875 fans.

Overview

Eight

NCAA 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. ...

Division I college men's lacrosse teams met in the postseason single-elimination tournament to decide the national championship.

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 ...

scored five goals in the finals for Maryland. The Terps took 62 shots in both the semi-finals and the finals. In the championship game, Maryland and Navy combined for 120 shots. The national title game represented the 50th time the Middies and Maryland had met since the sport was put on Maryland's varsity list in 1924. The Terps’ season concluded with a five-game winning streak including victories over Johns Hopkins,

Hofstra Hofstra University is a private research university in Hempstead, New York, United States. It originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University and became an independent college in 1939. Comprising ten schools, including the Zucker Scho ...

, Washington & Lee and Navy. Navy had earlier in the season upset Maryland. Bob DeSimone tied for the lead in goals for Navy with eight, scoring 4 goals in the finals. DeSimone would later transfer to Johns Hopkins helping lead the Blue Jays to the 1978 national title and the 1977 finals. This was the first of four straight impressive tournament appearances by the Cornell attack of

Mike French Michael "Mike" G. French (born May 13, 1953) is a former three-time All-American lacrosse player at Cornell University from 1974 to 1976, teaming with fellow lacrosse Hall of Fame members Eamon McEneaney, Dan Mackesey, Bill Marino, Tom Marino, ...

, Jon Levine, Bill Marino and

Eamon McEneaney Eamon James McEneaney (December 23, 1954 – September 11, 2001) was an All-American lacrosse player at Cornell University from 1975 to 1977 and later an employee of Cantor Fitzgerald who died during the September 11 attacks. Lacrosse career McEn ...

which resulted in titles for the Big Red in 1976 and 1977, as well as a tournament finals appearance in 1978. Cornell was 15-1 heading into the tournament and earned the top seed in this tournament. Cornell had defeated Navy handily earlier in the season, 16-7, but were upset by the 4th seeded Navy team in the tournament.

Jack Emmer John S. Emmer is a former American lacrosse coach. He retired in 2005 with 326 wins, making him the lacrosse coach with the most wins in NCAA history. This mark was surpassed in 2008 by Jim Berkman of Division III Salisbury University. Emmer is ...

's Washington and Lee team avenged a loss in the prior year's tournament with an upset of the top-ranked but second seeded

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 quarterfinals.United Press International. ''Terps Favored Over Navy in Stick Finals''. THE CUMBERLAND EVENING TIMES. May 29, 1975. pg. 21

Bracket

Box scores

Finals

Semifinals

Quarterfinals

Outstanding players

The NCAA did not designate a Most Outstanding Player until the 1977 national tournament. The Tournament outstanding players are listed here as the tournament leading scorers: * Bert Caswell, Maryland, 14 points, leading tournament scorers *

, Maryland, 14 points * Jeff Long, Navy, 14 points

References

External links

Sports Illustrated: Topsy-turvy Title For The Terps, Despite bad starts, Maryland and Navy ended up in the NCAA finals, June 09, 1975
{{1974–75 NCAA Division I 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 ...

Lacrosse in Maryland