The 1974 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament was the 4th annual Division I NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament. Eight NCAA Division I college men's lacrosse teams met after having played their way through a regular season, and for some, a conference tournament. The championship game was hosted by Rutgers University, and was played in front of 7,728 fans.
Tournament overview
Johns Hopkins ended its two year runner-up role, and defeated defending champion and number one ranked Maryland 17 to 12 to win the 1974 National Title. The game saw Johns Hopkins University, 12 and 2 for the season and led by legendary coach Bob Scott and Hall of Fame attackman Jack Thomas, defeat University of Maryland led by Frank Urso which had been number one in the nation. This was the 7th Johns Hopkins team that Scott had directed to part or all of a national title dating back beyond the start of NCAA participation in the lacrosse championship playoffs. Scott retired as head coach following this game to become Athletic Director. All American Franz Wittlesberger scored five goals in the final. Hopkins' senior defenseman Bob Barbera scored the only goal of his career in the championship game.
This tournament is also notable for the Johns Hopkins versus Washington and Lee semifinal game won by Hopkins in a tight 11 to 10 matchup. Trailing 10 to 7 in the fourth quarter, Hopkins scored four straight goals, including the game winner with two minutes left, to overcome previously unbeaten Washington and Lee. Rich Kowalchuk scored on a feed from Tom Myrick for the game-winning goal with 1:50 to play in the fourth.
Washington and Lee, which finished the season 15 and 1, had defeated Navy twice, Princeton, Duke, North Carolina, and Virginia before losing to Hopkins. Jack Emmer, who had previously led Cortland State to tournament appearances, coached the Generals to six straight NCAA tournaments from 1973 to 1978.[2][3][4][5]
Johns Hopkins scoring – Franz Wittelsberger 5, Rick Kowalchuk 3, Rich Hirsch 3, Jack Thomas 3, Bill Nolan 2, Bob Barbera
Maryland scoring – Frank Urso 3, Dave Dempsey 2, Ed Mullen 2, Kevin Boland 2, Dave Hallock, Bob Mitchell, Roger Tuck
Shots: Johns Hopkins 59, Maryland 57
Tournament Semi-Finals
Team
1
2
3
4
Total
Johns Hopkins
3
2
2
4
11
Wash. & Lee
4
1
4
1
10
Johns Hopkins scoring – Rick Kowalchuk 3, Jim Cahill 2, Dale Kohler 2, Rich Hirsch, Pat Sinram, Franz Wittelsberger, Bill Nolan.
Wash. & Lee scoring – Bill Rienhoff 3, Skip Lichtfuss 3, Bryan Chasney 2, Ted Bauer, Dave Warfield
Shots: Johns Hopkins 30, Wash. & Lee 25
Team
1
2
3
4
Total
Maryland
3
5
7
4
19
Cornell
3
4
1
2
10
Maryland scoring – Ed Mullen 3, Dave Dempsey 3, Roger Tuck 3, Pat O'Meally 2, Frank Urso 2, Dino Mattessich 2, Kevin Boland 2, Bob Mitchell, Doug Radebaugh
Cornell scoring – Jim Trenz 3, Mike French 2, Bill Marino 2, Jon Levine 2, Tom Haggerty
Shots: Maryland 66, Cornell 30
Tournament First Round
Team
1
2
3
4
Total
Maryland
2
5
0
5
12
Rutgers
2
1
2
1
6
Maryland scoring – Frank Urso 3, Ed Mullen 2, Dave Dempsey 2, Pat O'Meally, Dino Mattessich, Brooks Sleeper, Doug Radebaugh, Mike Hynes
Rutgers scoring – Steve Arata 3, John Danowski, Mike Rinck, Pete Dorne
Shots: Maryland 63, Rutgers 31
Team
1
2
3
4
Total
Cornell
4
1
3
7
15
Virginia
1
3
2
2
8
Cornell scoring – Mike French 6, Jim Trenz 4, Jon Levine 3, Tom Haggerty, Steve Sanford
Virginia scoring – Barry Robertson 4, Greg Montgomery 2, Doug Cooper, Bruce Barker
Shots: Cornell 46, Virginia 44
Team
1
2
3
4
Total
Johns Hopkins
1
3
6
8
18
Hofstra
1
5
2
2
10
Johns Hopkins scoring – Franz Wittlesberger 7, Jack Thomas 4, Rick Kowalchuk 2, Rich Hirsch, Bill Nolan, Bill McCutcheon, Don Kurz, Mike Perez
Hofstra scoring – Kevin Hill 3, Pete Rose 2, Gary White 2, Jeff Fenton, Tom Calder, Teddy Betty
Shots: Johns Hopkins 39, Hofstra 26
Team
1
2
3
4
Total
Wash. & Lee
4
3
4
2
13
Navy
4
2
3
1
10
Wash. & Lee scoring – Dave Warfield 5, Ted Bauer 4, Bryan Chasney 2, Don Carroll, Skip Lichtfuss
Navy scoring – Wayne Dunham 2, Pat Meaney 2, Bob DeSimone, Tim Supko, Marty Mason, Dave Bayly, Bill Ayres, Joe Avveduti
Shots: Wash. & Lee 41, Navy 41
Tournament outstanding players
Franz Wittlesberger, Johns Hopkins, 15 points, 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.
