1981_NCAA_Division_I_lacrosse_tournament
The 1981 NCAA Division I lacrosse tournament was the 11th annual tournament hosted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to determine the team champion of men's college lacrosse among its Division I programs at the end of the 1981 NCAA Division I lacrosse season.
| 1981 NCAA Division I men's lacrosse tournament | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | May 20–30, 1981 | ||||
| Teams | 8 | ||||
| Finals site | Palmer Stadium Princeton, New Jersey | ||||
| Champions | North Carolina (1st title) | ||||
| Runner-up | Johns Hopkins (8th title game) | ||||
| Semifinalists | Navy (7th Final Four) Virginia (5th Final Four) | ||||
| Winning coach | Willie Scroggs (1st title) | ||||
| MOP | Jeff Cook, Attack, Johns Hopkins | ||||
| Attendance[1] | 13,943 finals 29,387 total | ||||
| Top scorer | Mike Burnett, North Carolina (15 goals) | ||||
| |||||
North Carolina capped off a 12-0 season with its first-ever NCAA championship, defeating undefeated three-time defending champion Johns Hopkins in the final, 14–13.
The championship game was played at Palmer Stadium at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey on May 30, with a crowd of 13,943 fans in attendance.
North Carolina scored five goals in the fourth quarter to defeat Johns Hopkins in a come-from-behind victory, coming back from a three-goal deficit. Hopkins had finished first or second in eight of the 11 NCAA championships and had been on a 22-game unbeaten streak before the final. This title was North Carolina's first in lacrosse.
The Tar Heels were led by coach Willie Scroggs, former Johns Hopkins' top assistant coach. North Carolina had been ranked number two in the USILA poll behind three-time defending national champion Johns Hopkins entering the tournament. Scroggs, who played midfield at Hopkins, turned the Tar Heels into national champions after only three seasons as coach.
Annapolis native Michael Burnett was selected USILA first team All-America. North Carolina's leading scorer, Burnett a sophomore, was among the first of a group of high-profile Maryland players recruited by Willie Scroggs to North Carolina as the school quickly built its program into a national power. Over the next decade, North Carolina would be among the top lacrosse programs, with four national titles and nine Final Four appearances.
For Hopkins, the prior four-year period included 53 wins against three losses, to go with three national championships. During this stretch, the Blue Jays won a record 11 straight NCAA tournament games, a record later tied by Syracuse.
National Player of the Year Jeff Cook scored six goals for Hopkins. Cook got Hopkins to within one goal with 45 seconds left in the game on a tremendous individual effort, stick-handling past four UNC defenders and rocketing a shot past the goaltender. Hopkins, though, lost the ensuing final face-off.[2][3][4]
| First Round May 20 | Semifinals May 23 | Championship May 30 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Johns Hopkins | 19 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Maryland | 14 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Johns Hopkins | 10 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Virginia | 6 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Virginia | 16 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Massachusetts | 12 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Johns Hopkins (13–1) | 13 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | North Carolina (12–0) | 14 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | North Carolina | 13 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Syracuse | 6 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | North Carolina | 17 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Navy | 8 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Navy | 16 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Army | 10 | ||||||||||||
Finals
- May 30, 1981
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina (12–0) | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 14 |
| Johns Hopkins (13–1) | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 13 |
| |||||
Semifinals
- May 23, 1981
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johns Hopkins | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| Virginia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| |||||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Navy | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| North Carolina | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 17 |
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First round
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johns Hopkins | 8 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 19 |
| Maryland | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 14 |
| |||||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia | 5 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 16 |
| Massachusetts | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 12 |
| |||||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 13 |
| Syracuse | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| |||||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Navy | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 16 |
| Army | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| |||||
- Jeff Cook, Attack, Johns Hopkins, tournament Most Outstanding Player
Leading scorers
| Name | GP | G | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Burnett, North Carolina | 3 | 9 | 6 | 15 |
| Jeff Cook, Johns Hopkins | 3 | 8 | 4 | 12 |
| Syd Abernathy, Navy | 2 | 7 | 3 | 10 |
| Brendan Schneck, Johns Hopkins | 3 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| Jim Zaffuto, Johns Hopkins | 3 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Jeff Homire, North Carolina | 3 | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| Doug Hall, North Carolina | 3 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Pete Voelkel, North Carolina | 3 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| Kevin Griswold, North Carolina | 3 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Randy Natoli, Virginia | 2 | 6 | 1 | 7 |
- "NCAA Lacrosse Division I Results / Records" (PDF). NCAA. p. 3 (51). Retrieved 24 April 2014.
- Looney, Douglas S. (June 8, 1981). "The Heels Get Their Feet In The Door". sportsillustrated.
- Associated Press. First team All-Americas. The Capital. June 4, 1981. pg. 23
- Associated Press. Coach Scroggs keeps his promise at UNC. The Capital. June 1, 1981. pg. 17