1979 NCAA Division I lacrosse tournament

The 1979 NCAA Division I lacrosse tournament was the ninth 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 1979 NCAA Division I lacrosse season.

Defending champions Johns Hopkins defeated Maryland in the championship game, 15–9.

The championship game was played at Byrd Stadium at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland, where 16,166 fans were in attendance.

Overview
Twelve NCAA Division I college men's lacrosse teams met after having played their way through a regular season, and for some, a conference tournament.

This tournament was notable as the only entry for NC State, led by Stan Cockerton, into the NCAA tournament. The lacrosse program at North Carolina State was discontinued shortly afterwards.

This was one of the great seasons in Hopkins' history, with highlights of the 13–0 season including wins over #2 Maryland and #5 Virginia (twice each) as well as wins over #3 Navy, #4 Cornell, North Carolina State, and #6 Army. Hopkins was ranked first in the nation for 11 straight weeks. The team averaged over 15 goals a game and gave up under 7 goals a game, with only two teams able to score double digits in goals against Hopkins.

In the finals, Johns Hopkins used one of the all-time best defenses led by Hall of Fame goalie Mike Federico and defenseman Mark Greenberg, as well as a strong offense led by Dave Huntley and Jeff Cook, to defeat the Terrapins for the second time that season. John Hopkins took control with five unanswered goals in the second period of the title game. Also, in the second quarter, Hopkins' defense held Maryland in check where the Terps did not get a shot on goal off for over 11 minutes. Hopkins had handed the Terrapins five of their losses over the prior three seasons, including consecutive defeats in the semifinals of the Division I tournaments in 1977 and 1978.

The top seed in the tournament went to the Blue Jays after a 10–0 regular season record. Johns Hopkins were winners of 17 in a row since a mid-season defeat in 1978 by Cornell. Hopkins went on to win 25 straight games through the 1980 season.

Syracuse appeared for the first time in an NCAA tournament while Maryland made its ninth straight tournament appearance. Following this title game, Hopkins had won or tied for 34 national championships, more than twice as many as any other school.

This was a great stretch of tournament play for the Terrapins as during the 1970s, Maryland participated in six NCAA title games, including four in a row from 1973 to 1976. During that span, the Terps won two national titles and lost four.

Outstanding players

 * Mike Federico, Goalie, Johns Hopkins, tournament Most Outstanding Player