1972 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship
| 1972 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | May–June 1972 | ||||
| Teams | 8 | ||||
| Finals site | University of Maryland | ||||
| Champions | Virginia (1st title) | ||||
| Runner-up | Johns Hopkins | ||||
| MOP | Jay Connor, Virginia | ||||
| Attendance | 7,001 finals | ||||
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The 1972 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament was the second annual NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament. This was the last NCAA championship in which the Wingate Memorial Trophy was also presented to the national champion. Prior to NCAA Lacrosse Championships, the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) awarded the Wingate Memorial Trophy to the NCAA annual champion based on regular season records.
The 1972 NCAA Division I tournament championship game was played at University of Maryland in front of 7,001 fans. As in 1971, teams were first selected from the college lacrosse divisions, and then at-large teams were chosen. Army, Navy, Maryland and Johns Hopkins were selected as "seeded" picks. And Virginia, Cortland, Rutgers and Washington & Lee were picked as the at-large teams.
The Virginia Cavaliers led by coach Glenn Thiel (future longtime coach at Penn State) with an 11 and 4 record, defeated Johns Hopkins 13 to 12. Virginia was led by USILA player of the year Pete Eldredge, who finished with four goals, scoring the game winner with four minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Maryland, the pre-tournament favorite and host team, fell in the semifinals to Johns Hopkins, 9-6, before 8,000 spectators.
The victory gave Virginia its first NCAA national title in lacrosse, but it was the school's third overall lacrosse title including USILA titles in 1952 and 1970. The victory also gave Virginia its first official NCAA national title in any sport, as the NCAA only unofficially recognizes Virginia's national championship in boxing from 1938. The Cavaliers had lost to Hopkins, Maryland and Navy during the regular season. The Cavaliers survived a late rush by Jack Thomas, who with 12 seconds left in the game appeared to have a clear shot at the net. Bob Scott however had, unknown to the ball players called a timeout, negating what would have been a last-second game-tying attempt.
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