The 1988 NCAA Division I lacrosse tournament was the 18th annual tournament hosted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to determine the team champion of men's college lacrosse among its Division I programs, held at the end of the 1988 NCAA Division I men's lacrosse season.
Hosts Syracuse defeated Cornell in the final, 13–8, for the first of three straight NCAA titles for the Orangemen.
The championship game was played at the Carrier Dome at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, with 20,148 fans in attendance.
Overview Syracuse's 1988 team is noted for finishing undefeated, 15-0, and featuring the Gait brothers, Paul and Gary Gait. Syracuse was ranked number one in the nation for most of this year, averaged just under 18 goals a game, and had only one close game—an overtime win over North Carolina—during the regular season. They had also defeated the second seed in the tournament, Johns Hopkins, 19–7 early in the season.
This NCAAs is also notable for being the tournament where Gary Gait took his famous "Air Gait" shot in a close semi-final game against Tony Seaman's Penn team. Penn played a tough zone defense to try to contain the Gaits and Syracuse. Gary Gait saw a way around the zone, by running directly at the goal from behind and slam dunking the ball into the goal past the shocked goaltender. At that time, a player was allowed to both touch the goal and land in the crease, provided the ball had first crossed the goal line. Gait scored on two "Air Gait" plays in that game. The NCAA outlawed that type of play a short while later. Syracuse won this semifinal game against Penn on a goal by Paul Gait with three seconds left in the game.
In a 23–5 quarterfinal win over Navy, Gary Gait scored a tournament record 9 goals.
Bracket
(i) one overtime
Box scores Finals Team 1 2 3 4 Total Syracuse 2 6 3 2 13 Cornell 1 0 4 3 8 Syracuse scoring – Greg Burns 3, Gary Gait 2, Brook Chase 2, Paul Gait 2, Jim Egan 2, Rodney Dumpson, Keith Owens Cornell scoring – Tim Goldstein 3, John Wurzburger 2, Mike Cummings, Steve Meyer, Vince Angotti Shots: Syracuse 50, Cornell 48 Saves: Syracuse 21, Cornell 19
Semifinals Team 1 2 3 4 Total Syracuse 1 2 6 2 11 Penn 2 2 3 3 10 Syracuse scoring – Gary Gait 3, John Zulberti 3, Paul Gait 2, Jim Egan 2, Greg Burns Penn scoring – Sean Dougherty 3, Chris Flynn 2, Stewart Fisher 2, John Lyons, Peter Smith, Chris Conforti Shots: Syracuse 46, Pennsylvania 29 Saves: Pennsylvania 20, Syracuse 15 Team 1 2 3 4 Total Cornell 2 6 4 5 17 Virginia 3 2 1 0 6 Cornell scoring – Steve Meyer 4, Vince Angotti 3, John Wurzburger 2, Mike Cummings 2, Tony Morgan 2, John Heil, Tim Goldstein, Kevin Moran, Geoff Hall Virginia scoring – Steve Anderson, Doug Amacher, Andy Kraus, Tom Burt, Tom Engelke, David Smith Shots: Virginia 48, Cornell 37 Saves: Cornell 23, Virginia 15
Quarterfinals Team 1 2 3 4 Total Syracuse 7 2 5 9 23 Navy 1 3 1 0 5 Syracuse scoring – Gary Gait 9, Paul Gait 7, Brad Roos, John Zulberti, Rick Cramer, Keith Owens, Jim Egan, Neil Alt, James Poli Navy scoring – Mike Herger 2, Rich Schwarz, Tim Andrews, Tom Hanzsche Shots: Syracuse 50, Navy 20 Saves: Navy 14, Syracuse 10 Team 1 2 3 4 Total Penn 4 4 1 3 12 Loyola 1 3 3 2 9 Penn scoring – Bob Scheetz 3, Mike Kelly 3, Stewart Fisher 2, Peter Smith 2, Sean Dougherty, Ted Nyman Loyola Maryland scoring – Brian Kroneberger 3, Mike Ruland 2, Rusty Pritzlaff, Andy Wilson, Chris Colbeck, Brian Lutz Shots: Penn 39, Loyola Maryland 33 Saves: Loyola 17, Penn 16 Team 1 2 3 4 Total Cornell 2 3 0 1 6North Carolina10124 Cornell scoring – John Wurzburger 4, Bill O’Hanlon, Tim Goldstein North Carolina scoring – Michael Thomas, Mark Tummillo, John Szczypinski, Chris Hein Shots: Cornell 44, North Carolina 42 Saves: Cornell 27, North Carolina 15 Team 1 2 3 4 OT1 Total Virginia 3 1 5 1 1 11Johns Hopkins0433010 Virginia scoring – Chase Monroe 5, Doug Amacher, Andy Kraus, Mike Smith, Chris Wakely, Tom Burt, Rob Schmalz Johns Hopkins scoring – Matt Panetta 3, Mike Morrill 2, Pat Russell 2, Jeff Ihm, Greg Kelly, Jack Crawford Shots: Johns Hopkins 50, Virginia 40 Saves: Virginia 26, Johns Hopkins 17
First round Team 1 2 3 4 Total Navy 3 4 0 3 10 Harvard 3 1 3 2 9 Navy scoring – Paul Basile 2, Mike Herger 2, John Wade 2, Tim O’Rourke, Frank Snyder, Brian Keith, Rich Schwarz Harvard scoring – Rob Griffith 3, Brad Raymond 2, Mickey Cavuoti 2, Neil Garfinkel, David Kramer Shots: Harvard 48, Navy 36 Saves: Navy 19, Harvard 12 Team 1 2 3 4 Total Loyola 5 6 6 2 19 Air Force 1 2 2 3 8 Loyola scoring – Andy Wilson 5, Rusty Pritzlaff 4, Brian Lutz 4, Mike Ruland 2, Scott Oslislo 2, Ted Nichols, Mike Heffernan Air Force scoring – Tom Kelly 3, Tom Sexton 2, Mike Dimento 2, Jim Daronco Shots: Loyola Maryland 51, Air Force 26 Saves: Loyola Maryland 12, Air Force 11 Team 1 2 3 4 Total Cornell 2 3 4 4 13 Massachusetts 3 3 1 4 11 Cornell scoring – Bill O’Hanlon 5, John Wurzburger 3, Charlie Caliendo, Tim Goldstein, Vince Angotti, Paul Shea, Joe Lizzio Massachusetts scoring – Scott Hiller 4, Kelley Carr 3, Tim Soudan 2, Paul Ganci 2 Shots: Cornell 51, Massachusetts 36 Saves: Massachusetts 18, Cornell 16
See also List of undefeated NCAA Division I men's lacrosse national champions 1988 NCAA Division I women's lacrosse tournament 1988 NCAA Division III men's lacrosse tournament
References
External links "Air Gait" original Air Gait compilation on YouTube "Air Gait" on YouTube 1988 Semifinals Syracuse v Penn "Air Gait" game, full game "Air Gait" Writeup