1971 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship
| 1971 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||||
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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.
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 to 6 in the finals.
Cornell won 13 straight game en route to the title, losing only their opening game by one goal to Virginia. Backup goaltender 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.
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