1971 NCAA lacrosse tournament

1971 NCAA Division I men's lacrosse tournament
Dates	May – June 1971
Teams	8
Finals site	Hofstra University
Champions	Cornell (1st title)
Runner-up	Maryland (1st title game)
MOP	Tom Cafaro, Army
Attendance	5,458 finals
NCAA Division I men's tournaments   1972»

The 1971 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament was the first Division I NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament. Prior to this the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) had voted for the national champion and, subsequently, awarded the Wingate Memorial Trophy for the College lacrosse title based on regular season records.

Eight NCAA Division I college men's lacrosse teams met after having played their way through a regular season. The tournament culminated with the finals, held at Hofstra University in front of 5,458 fans. For this tournament as well as the 1972 tournament, the Wingate Memorial Trophy was presented to the winner.

College lacrosse at that time was broken into four divisions, so the NCAA tournament games for that year were based on geographical fit rather than seeding. The Tournament teams were selected from 114 schools which sponsored lacrosse at that time. Each division sent one team, two other teams were picked from the northern, southern and western divisions, and then two teams were chosen at large, chosen by a selection committee of five coaches and athletic directors.

Tournament overview

The Cornell Big Red, who posted a 13–1 record during the season, were led by coach Richard M. Moran and star players Bob Rule, John Burnap, Bob Shaw, and Alan Rimmer, and defeated the 9 and 3 Maryland Terrapins 12–6 in the finals.

Cornell won 13 straight game en route to the title, losing only their opening game by one goal to Virginia. Goalie Bob Buhmann was credited with 22 saves as the Big Red shut off the potent Maryland attack.

Canadian-born Al Rimmer, the first Canadian born NCAA lacrosse recruit, scored six goals in the finals to lead Cornell. Rimmer, from Toronto, led Cornell with 43 goals and 31 assists for 74 points for the season. He ended his career as the all-time Cornell record-holder in career points with 80 goals and 82 assists for 162 points.

In 1970 in just his second year, Coach Moran’s team was the only squad in the nation to go undefeated with a record of 11-0, but controversy ensued when the USILA named Johns Hopkins, Navy and Virginia as the national champions, while Cornell was voted fifth in the country. The next season, after losing in the season opener to Virginia, 10-9, Cornell rattled off 13-straight victories.

In the semi-finals, Cornell edged Army, 17-16, with Cornell grabbing a 7-4 lead after one period. Army, led by Tom Cafaro who had seven goals and three assists in the game, battled back and by the third period it became a question of who would get the last goal. The lead changed hands twice and the score was tied four times in the final period, before Bob Shaw scored at 12:33 giving Cornell the victory.

This was Cornell's first lacrosse title since winning the USILA championship in 1907. Cornell was 1–4–1 against Maryland, up to this point, in a series that began with Cornell's 2–1 win in 1921. The teams played a 2–2 tie in 1922, and Maryland won by 11–1 in 1929, 14–2 in 1951, 17–10 in 1963 and 13–6 in 1965. Frank Davis' four goals against Army in the semi-finals ensured Cornell's place in the national championship.

Coach Richie Moran was voted the Morris Touchstone Award as the Division I Coach of the Year, while John Burnap won the Schmeisser Award as the nation’s outstanding defenseman and Bob Rule won the Ens. C.M. Kelly, Jr. Award as the nation’s top goaltender, despite the fact that a season-ending knee injury kept Rule from playing in the NCAA tournament.

Al Rimmer fired in six of Cornell's 12 goals, with Cornell never trailing in the game. Rimmer fired in a goal after only 59 seconds and though Maryland was able to tie the score at 2-2, the Terps posed no real threat after the first period. The goal that put Cornell ahead for good was produced by their third midfield. With 7:47 to go in the first period, Bob Wagner, a senior from Newton, Pa., scored off an assist by Craig Bollinger, a junior from Rochester, N.Y. Rimmer then took command and racked up three straight goals. Frank Davis, a junior from Sanborn, N.Y. and Bucky Gunts, a junior from Baltimore, Md. finished up Cornell's string of six goals.

Tournament bracket

	First round May 22					Semi-Finals May 29					Finals June 2
	Cornell		10
	Brown		8
						Cornell		17
						Army		16
	Army		19
	Hofstra		3
											Cornell		12
											Maryland		6
	Navy		9
	Virginia		6
						Navy		7
						Maryland		10
	Maryland		10
	Air Force		1

Tournament boxscores

Tournament Finals

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Cornell	4	4	2	2	12
Maryland	2	1	1	2	6
Cornell scoring – Alan Rimmer 6, Bucky Gunts 2, Mickey Fenzel, Rob Wagner, Bob Shaw, Frank Davis Maryland scoring – Tom Cleaver 2, Steve Demczuk, Eric Nachlas, Ed Hubbard, Dave Dempsey Shots: Cornell 42, Maryland 46

Tournament Semi-Finals

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Cornell	7	4	2	4	17
Army	4	6	2	4	16
Cornell scoring – Frank Davis 4, Alan Rimmer 3, Bob Shaw 3, Pat Gallagher 3, Mickey Fenzel 2, Glenn Mueller, Bucky Gunts Army scoring – Tom Cafaro 7, Ron Liss 4, Rich Enners 2, Bucky Walker 2, Russ Bolling Shots: Cornell 49, Army 39

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Maryland	3	2	2	3	10
Navy	1	0	3	3	7
Maryland scoring – Tom Kelly 2, John Kaestner 2, Eric Nachlas 2, Dennis Dorsey, Tom Cleaver, Dan Furman, Phil Marino Navy scoring – Steven Nastro 3, Tim Supko 2, Pete Kordis, Robert Pell Shots: Maryland 36, Navy 32

Tournament First Round

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Cornell	3	2	4	1	10
Brown	3	1	1	3	8
Cornell scoring – Glenn Mueller 3, Pat Gallagher 2, Bob Shaw 2, Frank Davis, Mickey Fenzel, Bruce Teague Army scoring – Bob Scalise 2, Rupert Scofield 2, Dean Rollins 2,Dave Owens, Joe Daugherty Shots: Brown 45, Cornell 46

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Army	7	3	6	3	19
Hofstra	0	0	1	2	3
Army scoring – Tom Cafaro 4, David Coughlin 4, Rich Enners 3, Frank Eich 2, Bob Armbruster 2, Russ Bolling, Steve Wood, Ron Liss, Mick Sela Hofstra scoring – Bob DeMarco, Bill Artus, Randolph Caruso Shots: Army 30, Hofstra 28

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Navy	3	3	2	1	9
Virginia	3	0	1	2	6
Navy scoring – Bill Kordis 5, Steven Nastro 2, Patrick Lee, Robert Pell Virginia scoring – Pete Eldredge 3, Bob Proutt, Jay Connor, Rick Beach Shots: Virginia 44, Navy 34

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Maryland	2	2	1	5	10
Air Force	1	0	0	0	1
Maryland scoring – John Kaestner 2, Eric Nachlas 2, Len Spicer, Dave Dempsey, Tom Cleaver, Dennis Dorsey, Dan Furman, Gary Besosa Air Force scoring – Thomas Dour Shots: Maryland 41, Air Force 16

Tournament outstanding player

Tom Cafaro, Army, 18 points, Tournament Leading Scorer

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

See also

• Richard M. Moran
• Wingate Memorial Trophy

External links

• Cornell Reports Vol. 05, No. 07 (June 1971) writeup on title game
• SAE Cornell, Laxmen Win NCAA Crown From Cornell Reports, June 1971
• Photos from 1971 Championship game
• Cornell Nips Army 17-16 The Evening News - Jun 1, 1971 - Semifinal game