Throughout the 1970s Cornell University was dominant in lacrosse with four national championship appearances to go with three titles. The 1976 and 1977 Big Red teams are generally considered to be among the best of all time.
In the matchup that lacrosse fans wanted to see, for the first time in NCAA tournament history two undefeated teams, #1 Maryland and #2 Cornell met in the championship game. The game did not disappoint, as Cornell, down 7–2 at halftime, outscored Maryland 6–2 in the third period to pull within one goal entering the final period. The Terps opened the fourth period with a goal to go up 10–8, but the next four goals belonged to Cornell who led 12–10 with three minutes to play. Maryland, however, would not back down and got back-to-back goals including a buzzer-beater to knot the game and send the contest into overtime.
This tournament finals was not a sudden death, first goal to win the game. This overtime consisted of one OT with two four minute periods, with the teams swapping ends between periods. After an initial goal by Maryland's Terry Kimball, Cornell would score four unanswered goals to claim the crown with a 16 to 13 victory.
Cornell earlier in the tournament recorded the only shutout in NCAA tournament history when they blanked Washington and Lee 14–0 in the first round. In a game that featured both snow and pouring rain, the Big Red did the improbable with goalie Dan Mackesey pitching a shutout making 13 saves. The number 7 seed Generals, who had been national semifinalists the previous year, had an impressive offensive unit coming into the contest having outscored its regular season opponents 147 to 89.
In a 22-11 semifinal win against Navy, Maryland's Ed Mullen had 7 goals and 5 assists to set a tournament record of 12 total points in one game.
In the finals, Mike French tied the then-NCAA tournament single-game scoring record, finishing the day with seven goals and four assists, while Dan Mackesey matched the then-tournament record for saves in a single-game with 28 stops.[2][3][4]
Cornell scoring – Mike French 7, Jon Levine 4, Bill Marino 2, Steve Dybus, Gary Malm, Bob Henrickson
Maryland scoring – Frank Urso 2, John Lamon 2, Ed Mullen 2, Barry Mitchell, Lance Kohler, Bert Caswell, Bert Olsen, Jim Burnett, Greg Rumpf, Terry Kimball
Shots: Maryland 58, Cornell 43
Saves: Cornell Dan Mackesey 28, Maryland Jake Reed 15 - Andre Pantelides 0
Location: Providence, RI (Brown Stadium) - 5/29/1976
Attendance: 11,954
Semifinals
Team
1
2
3
4
Total
Cornell
2
2
4
5
13
Johns Hopkins
0
0
1
4
5
Cornell scoring – Jon Levine 5, Bill Marino 3, Mike French 2, Albin Haglund 2, Tom Marino
Johns Hopkins scoring – Dave Huntley 2, Tom Myrick, Joe Garavente, Rich Hirsch
Location: Ithaca, NY (Schoellkopf Field) - 5/22/1976
Attendance: 7,000
Team
1
2
3
4
Total
Maryland
10
3
5
4
22
Navy
1
3
3
4
11
Maryland scoring – Ed Mullen 7, Roger Tuck 4, Bert Caswell 3, Bob Ott 2, Frank Urso, Jim Burnett, John Lamon, Mike Farrell, Lance Kohler, Terry Kimball
Navy scoring – Mike Canders 4, Bob Holman 2, George Moore 2, Jeff Connolly, Jim Shulson, Emory Chenoweth
Shots: Maryland 58, Navy 49
Saves: Maryland Jake Reed 12 - Pantelides 3, Navy Bill Mueller 17 - Johnson 3
Location: College Park, Maryland (Byrd Stadium) - 5/23/1976
Attendance: 12,000
Quarterfinals
Team
1
2
3
4
Total
Maryland
3
8
4
2
17
Brown
0
2
3
3
8
Maryland scoring – Frank Urso 3, Bert Caswell 3, Lance Kohler 2, Ed Mullen 2, Roger Tuck 2, Terry Kimball 2, Bert Olsen, Bob Ott, Mark Shores
Brown scoring – Peter Bensley 3, Bob MacLeod 3, Steve Meister, Bill Ohlsen
Cornell scoring – Robert Mitchell 3, Tom Marino 2, Bob Hendrickson, Mike French, Jon Levine, Eamon McEneaney, Dave Bray, John O’Neill, Albin Haglund, Steve Dybus, Keith Reitenbach, Brian Lasda, John Britton.
Washington and Lee scoring –
Shots: Cornell 39, Washington and Lee 20
Saves: Cornell Dan Mackesey 13, Washington and Lee Charlie Brown 18
Location: Ithaca, NY (Schoellkopf Field) - 5/19/1976
Attendance:
Outstanding players
The NCAA did not designate a Most Outstanding Player until the 1977 national tournament.
Notes
Cornell's 14–0 victory over Washington and Lee was the first shutout in the tournament's history
