1978 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship
The 1978 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament was the 8th 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.
Tournament overview
The championship game was hosted by Rutgers University, and was played in front of 13,527 fans. The game saw the Johns Hopkins University defeat Cornell University by the score of 13-8, using a three-goal performance by midfielder Bob DeSimone.The finals was notable for the loss by Cornell, which had come into the game on a 42-game unbeaten streak. Cornell had not lost a game since May 24, 1975, a 15-12 setback to Navy in the 1975 NCAA tournament semifinals. Cornell set the NCAA consecutive victories record of 42 games, not losing from March 20, 1976, to May 20, 1978. Hopkins had lost earlier in the season to Cornell, 16-11, on April 15 at Homewood Field in Baltimore.
Mike O'Neill, attackman from Johns Hopkins, was later named the Division 1 National Player of the Year and was named the top player in the Division 1 championship game, finishing with one goal and three assists. Hopkins would go on to win three straight national titles.
Tournament results
Tournament boxscores
Tournament FinalsTournament Semi-Finals
Tournament First Round
Tournament outstanding players
- Mike O’Neill, Johns Hopkins, tournament Most Outstanding Player
| Name | GP | G | A | Pts |
| Mike O'Neill, Johns Hopkins | 3 | 8 | 7 | 15 |
| Scott Baugher, Johns Hopkins | 3 | 6 | 6 | 12 |
| Bob DeSimone, Johns Hopkins | 3 | 9 | 2 | 11 |
| Bob Henrickson, Cornell | 3 | 8 | 3 | 11 |
| Mike Buzzell, Navy | 2 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| Mike Hannan, Navy | 2 | 9 | 1 | 10 |
| Dave Huntley, Johns Hopkins | 3 | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| Terry Kimball, Maryland | 2 | 7 | 3 | 10 |
| Steve Page, Cornell | 3 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| John Lamon, Maryland | 2 | 6 | 3 | 9 |