1973 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship

1973 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship
Dates	May-June 1973
Teams	8
Finals site	Franklin Field Philadelphia
Champions	Maryland (1st title)
Runner-up	Johns Hopkins
MOP	Jack Thomas, Johns Hopkins
Attendance[1]	5,965 finals
NCAA Division I Men's Championships «1972 1974»

The 1973 NCAA Division I tournament championship game was played at Franklin Field in Philadelphia in front of 5,965 fans. The undefeated Maryland Terrapins, led by coach Bud Beardmore and Hall of Fame midfielder Frank Urso defeated Johns Hopkins 10 to 9 in two overtimes, with Urso scoring the winning goal 1:18 into overtime.

Tournament overview

The top eight teams in the season-ending lacrosse coaches poll were selected to play in the 1973 tournament.

Hopkins had defeated Virginia 12-9, and Maryland beat Washington and Lee 18-5, to reach the finals. This was Maryland's 8th 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' eleven regular season games, they averaged 17.6 points and held opponents to 5.5 points.

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 a 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, scoring the winning goal in the second overtime for the 10-9 victory. Urso scored the game-winner, taking a solo run at goal and converting a 15 yard bounce shot. Since there was not sudden-death overtime until the third overtime period in this tournament, 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. Johns Hopkins had disposed of Army 11-5, and the defending national champion Virginia, 12-9.

Washington and Lee goalie Skeet Chadwick in two contests had 52 saves. W&L beat Navy in a three overtime marathon 13-12 in the first round.

Jack Thomas of Johns Hopkins had 11 tournament assists.^{[2] [3] [4]}

Tournament results

	First Round May 19					Semifinals May 26					Championship June 2
	1	Maryland	16
	8	Brown	4
						1	Maryland	18
						4	Wash. & Lee	7
	4	Wash. & Lee	13^(iii)
	6	Navy	12
											1	Maryland	10^(ii)
											2	Johns Hopkins	9
	3	Hofstra	5
	5	Virginia	12
						2	Johns Hopkins	12
						5	Virginia	9
	2	Johns Hopkins	11
	7	Army	5

⁽ⁱⁱ⁾ two overtimes

⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾ three overtimes

Tournament boxscores

Tournament Finals

Team	1	2	3	4	OT1	OT2	Total
Maryland	0	2	4	3	0	1	10
Johns Hopkins	2	3	2	2	0	0	9
Maryland scoring – Frank Urso 3, Gary Besosa 2, Pat O’Meally 2, Dino Mattessich, Brooks Sleeper, Doug Schreiber Johns Hopkins scoring – Rick Kowalchuk 3, Mike Perez 2, Ken Winegrad 2, Jack Thomas, Franz Wittelsberger Shots: Maryland 50, Johns Hopkins 35

Tournament Semi-Finals

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Maryland	5	5	2	6	18
Wash. & Lee	3	3	1	0	7
Maryland scoring – Ed Mullen 3, Pat O’Meally 3, Frank Urso 3, Dino Mattessich 2, Doug Radebaugh 2, Doug Schreiber 2, Dave Hallock, Larry Hubbard, Roger Tuck Wash. & Lee scoring – Sam Englehart 2, Skip Lichtfuss 2, Ted Bauer, Bryan Chasney, Dave Warfield Shots: Maryland 74, Wash. & Lee 30

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Johns Hopkins	2	3	3	4	12
Virginia	2	1	4	2	9
Johns Hopkins scoring – Rick Kowalchuk 4, Franz Wittelsberger 3, Jack Thomas, Dale Kohler, Don Krohn, Ken Winegrad, Bill Nolan Virginia scoring – Barry Robertson 2, Doug Cooper 2, Rich Werner 2, Tom Duquette, Jim Ulman, Owen Daly Shots: Virginia 59, Johns Hopkins 49

Tournament First Round

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Maryland	2	5	7	2	16
Brown	1	1	1	1	4
Maryland scoring – Bob Mitchell 4, Frank Urso 3, Doug Schreiber 3, Gary Besosa, Harmon Levine, Ed Mullen, Pat O’Meally, Doug Radebaugh, Brooks Sleeper Brown scoring – Scott Cummings 2, Bob Rubeor, Jeff Wagner Shots: Maryland 62, Brown 27

Team	1	2	3	4	OT1	OT2	OT3	Total
Wash. & Lee	2	5	1	2	2	0	1	13
Navy	3	1	2	4	2	0	0	12
Wash. & Lee scoring – Dave Warfield 4, Sam Englehart 4, Skip Lichtfuss 2, Don Carroll 2, Chip Tompkins Navy scoring – Bill Kordis 4, Dave Bayly 3, Joe Avviduti 2, Tom Venier, Marty Mason, Kim McCauley Shots: Navy 64, Wash. & Lee 47

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Virginia	4	5	1	2	12
Hofstra	0	1	1	3	5
Virginia scoring – Barry Robertson 5, Rich Werner 2, Owen Daly, Doug Cooper, Jeff Clute, Jim Ulman, Greg Montgomery Hofstra scoring – Kevin Hill, Bob Auguste, Jim Merryman, Bob Miller, Bill Reid Shots: Virginia 50, Hofstra 35

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Johns Hopkins	5	2	2	2	11
Army	2	1	1	1	5
Johns Hopkins scoring – Don Krohn 4, Mike Perez 2, Bill Nolan 2, Jack Thomas, Franz Wittelsberger, Rick Kowalchuk Army scoring – Joe Hennessy 3, George Reynolds, Rick Goodhand Shots: Johns Hopkin 44, Army 41

Tournament outstanding players

Jack Thomas, Johns Hopkins, 14 pts (3g, 11a), leading tournament scorer

• The NCAA did not designate a Most Outstanding Player until the 1977 national tournament.
  The Tournament outstanding player is listed here as the tournament leading scorer.

References

1. "NCAA Lacrosse Division I Results / Records" (pdf). NCAA. p. 3 (51). Retrieved 24 April 2014.
2. "NCAA Spring Sports News Archive" (PDF). NCAA.com. July 15, 1973.
3. "Maryland Mens Lacrosse Media Guide". UMTerps.com. 2007.
4. Associated Press. Terps gain stick title. THE CAPITAL. June 4, 1973. pg. 33

External links

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