Nine numbers to know about the men's lacrosse tournament

With the play-in game on Wednesday and the first round games beginning Saturday, the 2017 NCAA DI Men's Lacrosse Championship Tournament is here.

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Before you watch all of the exciting action, here are nine interesting numbers to know heading into the tournament:

It’s pretty common for teams to win back-to-back championships. The first to win consecutive titles was Cornell in 1977, and the most recent to repeat in consecutive years was Duke in 2014. In total, six teams since the first-ever championship (1971) have been back-to-back winners: Cornell, Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse, Princeton and Johns Hopkins.

The Orange enter the tournament as the No. 2 team in the nation, so it wouldn’t be too surprising for them to take the title this year. A title would expand ‘Cuse’s championship lead over Johns Hopkins.

In both 1977 and 1987, a player scored 25 points during his team’s run to the title: Eamon McEneaney and Tim Goldstein. Both played for Cornell, and while McEneaney was part of the 1977 national championship team, Cornell was dropped by Johns Hopkins in the final despite Goldstein’s impressive run.

UNC’s Chris Cloutier hit this incredible mark against Loyola (MD) on the way to the national championship last year. Only two other players have scored nine goals in a single game—Gary Gait (Syracuse, 1988) and Oliver Marti (Brown, 1992).

Syracuse took home the title three times between 1987 and 1990, and leading the attack was Gary Gait. During his time with the Orange, he posted 50 points in tournament games, which still stands as the NCAA tournament record.

In 1991, Maryland goalkeeper Steve Kavovit helped lead the Terrapins to victory over Brown in a tournament game with 30 saves. Now, for a more extended sample size: Paul Schimoler of Cornell holds the record for the most saves over an entire tournament, totaling 85 to help send Cornell to the title match against Syracuse.

In 2008, two lacrosse powerhouses battled in an incredible showdown for the title. Syracuse and Johns Hopkins met in Foxboro (in the same stadium the championship game will be played this year), and the Orange emerged victorious.

Virginia and Duke have proven to play an extremely unselfish style. The Cavaliers notched 42 assists in four games during the 2006 tournament, and the Blue Devils hit that mark just a year later in 2007 in four games as well.

Monmouth, which competed in the play-in game against Bryant, has never been selected to be a part of the lacrosse tournament. While its stay was short, losing to Bryant with a score10-7, this was its first year competing as part of the tournament. 

*Note: All facts and figures are from NCAA.org.