Dates May 16–26, 1979 Runner-up Maryland | Teams 8 | |
Champions Johns Hopkins (3rd title) MOP Mike Federico, Goalie, Johns Hopkins Attendance 16,166 finals
25,241 total | ||
The 1979 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament was the 9th 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.
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Tournament overview
The championship game was hosted by University of Maryland, and was played in front of 16,166 fans. The game saw the Johns Hopkins University defeat University of Maryland by the score of 15–9, taking control with five unanswered goals in the second period.
This tournament was notable as the only entry for North Carolina State, led by Stan Cockerton, in the NCAA tournament. The lacrosse program at North Carolina State was discontinued shortly afterwards.
The highlights of Hopkins' 13-0 season included wins over second-ranked Maryland and fifth-ranked Virginia twice each, as well as wins over third-ranked Navy, fourth-ranked Cornell, North Carolina State and No. 6 Army. Hopkins defense allowed fewer than seven goals a game this season.
Johns Hopkins used a strong defense and led by Dave Huntley and Jeff Cook, defeated the Terrapins for the second time this season in winning their second consecutive NCAA title. The number one seeding in the tournament went to the Blue Jays with a 10 and 0 record and winners of 17 in a row, since a mid-season defeat in 1978 by Cornell. Syracuse appeared for the first time in the NCAA tournament, while Maryland was making its ninth straight tournament appearance. Following this title game, Hopkins had won or tied for 34 national championships, more than twice as many as any other school.
Hopkins had also handed the Terrapins five of their losses over the prior three seasons, including consecutive defeats in the semifinals of the Division I tournaments in 1977 and 1978.
During the 1970s, Maryland participated in six NCAA title games, including four in a row from 1973 to 1976. During that span, the Terps won two national titles and lost four.
Tournament boxscores
Tournament Finals
Tournament Semi-Finals
Tournament First Round