May 26, 2000
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The lacrosse community had to have seen it coming prior to the start of the 1975 season.
The Maryland men's lacrosse team, which had won the NCAA title in 1973 and played in the championship game in 1974, was loaded with six returning All-Americans and unprecedented talent at every position. Included among those returning All-Americans were Frank Urso, who had been named the nation's top midfielder in 1974, and two-time All-American defenseman Mike Farrell. The roster included 20 players who had played in at least one NCAA Tournament and 13 players who had earned either junior or senior status academically.
The lacrosse community had to have begun to realize it early on during the 1975 season.
Despite beginning the season ranked No. 2 in the nation behind Johns Hopkins, Maryland won its first five games against collegiate competition. The Terps defeated highly regarded North Carolina twice, Air Force and Brown by a cumulative score of 53-38 before the full bloom of the Black Eyed Susan. Despite stubbing their toes against Virginia and Navy before May 1, the Terps were primed, by that time, to make a serious run at their second NCAA championship in the last three years.
The lacrosse community had to have known it was over when the calendar turned to May.
Maryland's amazing run to the NCAA title began with a 21-8 victory over Army. Over the course of the next 31 days, Maryland would live up to all of its preseason expectations as it won its final five games by an average of 9.2 goals. During its run to glory the Terps averaged 18.8 goals per game and broke nearly every offensive record in the NCAA Tournament at the time.
The lacrosse community watched the inevitable as Maryland defeated Navy to win the NCAA championship.
In convincing fashion, the Terps defeated Navy, 20-13, to claim the 12th national championship in school history. The Terps equaled a tournament record with 20 goals in the game, and established a tournament record for margin of victory in a championship game. During the tournament, the Terps scored a tournament record 54 goals and were credited with a tournament-record 35 assists.
Head coach Buddy Beardmore's Terps entered the season considered to be the nation's strongest collegiate team. They earned that reputation despite having to rebuild both their starting attack and defensive units and facing the nation's most difficult schedule entering the season.
The 1974 Maryland lacrosse season had ended badly for the Maryland men's lacrosse team. The Terps, who finished the season with an 8-2 record, fell to the vaunted Johns Hopkins Blue Jays, 17-12, in the championship game of the NCAA Tournament. The game was a repeat of the 1973 NCAA championship game that Maryland won in a 10-9 overtime thriller.
The Terps, though, were loaded entering the 1975 season.
Two-time All-American Ed Mullen paced the attack. Mullen, a senior tri-captain that season, unfortunately would miss the majority of the season with a knee injury. Mullen's misfortune was a blessing to a number of other players. Junior Bert Caswell, who scored 29 goals, sophomore Mike Hynes and junior Roger Tuck quickly became major components of the attack when Mullen was injured in the first game of the season. Hynes and Tuck combined to score 36 goals during the season.
The midfield was dominated by junior Frank Urso, one of the greatest players in school history. Urso, who scored a team-leading 34 goals in 1975, was named the outstanding collegiate lacrosse player of the year following the season. Urso teamed with Doug Radebaugh, who would be named as the outstanding collegiate midfielder of the year, to form one of the top midfield combinations the game of lacrosse has ever seen. Bert Olsen, a sophomore, and Brooks Sleeper, a senior, were another pair of midfielders who contributed mightily to the Terps' success in 1975.
Defenseman Mike Farrell, who was the runner-up as the national defender of the year at season's end, led an air-tight Terp defense which allowed less than 10 goals a game. Farrell was inducted into the Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1999. Sophomore Mark Bethman was also a stalwart defensive player for the 1975 Terps. Bethmann earned All-America third team honors following the season. Freshman Mike Miller and senior Tom Murray were also integral parts of Maryland's defense.
A pleasant surprise developed in the goal when senior tri-captain Gary Niels won the starting assignment for the season as he edged out sophomore Jake Reed, who had been the starter during the 1974 season.
The Terps were also loaded on the sideline with head coach Buddy Beardmore calling the shots. A three-time All-American at Maryland, Beardmore had led the Terps to Atlantic Coast Conference championships in 1972, 1973 and 1974 and to the national championship in 1973. He would lead the Terps to the promised land again in 1975.
The Terps opened the season against rival North Carolina with a victory and would defeat the Tar Heels for a second time only two weeks later. Maryland benefited from an 8-4 second-half run to win its season opener for to run the Terps' season-opening non-losing streak to 48 consecutive seasons.
The Terps then claimed the championship of the Hero's Tournament at Duke with victories over Air Force (13-6), the Maryland Lacrosse Club team (9-8 in overtime) and North Carolina (10-9 in overtime).
Against Air Force, the Terps broke open a close game in the second half with a 7-3 run. Radebaugh then keyed the Terps' 9-8 victory over the Maryland Lacrosse Club with a goal in the second overtime period of the semifinal game of the tournament.
The tournament final was also decided in overtime as Maryland gained their second victory over North Carolina during the month of March as Caswell scored with 1:18 elapsed in the first overtime period.
The Terps' upped their record to 5-0 with a 17-14 victory over Brown during which Maryland scored eight second quarter goals.
Maryland dropped its first two games against collegiate competition in late April with one goal losses to Virginia (13-14) and Navy (9-10). The Terps fell to Navy despite outshooting the Midshipmen (59-38) and leading in faceoffs (17-4).
April showers quickly turned into May victories for the Terps. Following its one-goal losses to Virginia and Navy, Maryland won five consecutive games against collegiate competition. The Terps won their final two games of the regular season and blew through the NCAA Tournament with three consecutive victories.
The destruction began against Army in Maryland's 21-8 victory. The Terps outscored the Cadets 7-0 in the third quarter and 12-1 in the second half to gain a decisive 12-8 win.
Maryland closed out the regular season with a 19-11 victory over arch-rival and No.1 ranked Johns Hopkins. The Terps, behind Tuck's five goals and Urso's four, bolted to an 11-1 first-quarter lead and never looked back. The eight-goal margin is among the Terps' largest margins of victory ever over the Blue Jays in records dating back to 1924.
The now No. 1 ranked Terps began the NCAA Tournament with a convincing 19-11 victory over Hofstra. Maryland took a tournament record 80 shots and equaled the tournament record with 19 goals. Urso and Caswell led the Terps with three goals and six total points each. Radebaugh contributed two goals and five total points while Hynes scored two goals and totaled three points. The victory put the Terps into the national semifinals for the fourth of what would be a nine-consecutive year run.
The Terps advanced to the national championship game for the third consecutive year with a 15-5 victory over Washington & Lee. The Terps led 10-5 at halftime, beat the Generals 17-7 on faceoffs and limited them one goal in nine man-up opportunities.
Maryland was making their fourth championship game appearance in the five-year history of the NCAA Tournament when it faced off against Navy at historic Homewood Field on campus of the Johns Hopkins University. At the time, the Terps and the Midshipmen were the only two teams to have played in the first five NCAA Tournaments with Navy making its first championship game appearance in 1975.
Urso equaled an NCAA Tournament record with five goals as the Terps defeated the Midshipmen, 20-13, to claim the championship. The Terps established tournament records for most goals in a championship game (20), most assists (13) and largest margin of victory in a championship game (seven) while Urso's five goal tied the tournament record for goals by an individual. The Terps' 20 goals still stands as the second-highest scoring total in an NCAA game in school history.
During the game, Urso's five goals allowed him to become only the third player in Maryland history to score over 100 goals for his career. Still considered to be one of the greatest midfielders to ever play the game, Urso closed his career a year later with 127 goals an still, 25 years later, ranks third in school history.
Urso scored five goals and added one assist for six total points during the championship game and was one of eight different Terps that enjoyed multi-point games against the Midshipmen. Hynes totaled a career-high five points on three goals and two assists while Tuck added three goals and one assist.
For Hynes, his game against Navy was one for his own personal record book. It marked the second time during the 1975 season that he had scored three goals in one game and his five points marked what would be a near career-high. It also allowed him to continue the most remarkable scoring streak of his career as he totaled 10 goals and nine assists over the last five games of the season including the playoffs.
University of Maryland 1975 Men's Lacrosse Roster
Name Pos. Class.
Todd Beach A Fr.
Jim Bell D Fr.
Mark Bethmann D So.
Bob Brenton M Jr.
Jim Burnett M Jr.
Bert Caswell A Jr.
Mike Farrell D Jr.
Bob Gilmartin M Fr.
Gary Glatzel M Sr.
Bill Gould M So.
Bob Holland D Fr.
Mike Hynes A Sr.
George Miller D Fr.
Tony Morgan M Fr.
Ed Mullen A Sr.
Tom Murray D Sr.
Gary Niels G Sr.
Bert Olsen M So.
Wilson Phipps G Fr.
Doug Radebaugh M Sr.
Jake Reed G So.
Mike Robinson M Jr.
Mark Shores A Fr.
Brooks Sleeper M Sr.
Andy Thompson A Sr.
Roger Tuck M Jr.
Mark Tully D So.
Andy Tyrie A Fr.
Frank Urso M Jr.
Bryant Walters G Fr.
Head Coach: C.A. "Buddy" Beardmore
Assistant Coaches: Jim Dietsch, Kurt Kimball, Rennie Smith
