The 1976 NCAA Division I tournament championship game was played at Brown University in front of 7,504 fans. The undefeated Cornell Big Red, led by lacrosse Hall of Famers Richard M. Moran, Mike French and Eamon McEneaney, defeated Maryland with hall-of-famer Frank Urso, 16 to 13 in overtime. Throughout the 1970s, Cornell University was dominant in lacrosse with four final appearances and three titles and the 1976 and 1977 versions of the Big Red are generally considered to be among the best college lacrosse teams of all time.
For the first time in NCAA tournament history, two undefeated teams, No. 1 Maryland and No. 2 Cornell, would meet 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 tallies belonged to the Cornell who led 12-10 with three minutes to play. Maryland, however, would get back-to-back goals, including a buzzer-beater, to knot the game and send the contest into overtime. After an initial tally by the Terps' Terry Kimball, the Cornell would score four unanswered goals to claim the crown with a 16-13 victory. Mike French tied the then-NCAA tournament single-game scoring record, finishing the day with seven goals and four assists.
Cornell earlier in the tournament recorded the only shutout in NCAA tournament history when they blanked Washington and Lee 14 to 0 during the first round. In a 22-11 semifinal win against Navy, Maryland's Ed Mullen had 7 goals and 5 assists to set the tournament record of 12 total points in one game.
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