1971 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship - Tournament Overview

Tournament Overview

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, defeated the Maryland Terrapins 12–6. Cornell won 13 straight game en route to the title, losing only their opening game by one goal to Virginia. Goalie Bob Buhmann was credited with 22 saves as the Big Red shut off the potent Maryland attack. Canadian-born Al Rimmer 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.

Cornell edged Army, 17-16, in the semifinal with Cornell grabbed a 7-4 lead after one period. Army, led by Tom Cafaro, battled back and by the third period it became a question of who would get the last goal. The lead changed hands twice, and the score was tied four times in the final period, before Bob Shaw scored at 12:33, giving Cornell the victory.

This was Cornell's first lacrosse title since winning the USILA championship in 1907. Cornell was 1–4–1 against Maryland, up to this point, in a series that began with Cornell's 2–1 win in 1921. The teams played a 2–2 tie in 1922, and Maryland won by 11–1 in 1929, 14–2 in 1951, 17–10 in 1963 and 13–6 in 1965. Frank Davis' four goals against Army in the semi-finals ensured Cornell's place in the national championship.

In 1970, in just his second year, Coach Moran’s team is the only squad in the nation to go undefeated with a perfect record of 11-0, but controversy ensues when the USILA names Johns Hopkins, Navy and Virginia as the national champions, while Cornell is voted fifth in the country. So the next season, Cornell took matters into their own hands. After losing in the season opener to Virginia, 10-9, Cornell rattled off 13-straight victories. Coach Richie Moran was voted the Morris Touchstone Award as the Division I Coach of the Year, while John Burnap wins the Schmeisser Cup as the nation’s outstanding defenseman and Bob Rule wins the Ens. C.M. Kelly, Jr. Award as the nation’s top goaltender, despite the fact that a season-ending knee injury kept him from playing in the NCAA tournament.