History

     The Native American Indians actually started lacrosse. They started it to decide who got territory. The start of lacrosse as we know it today started in colleges. New York University was the first college to play lacrosse. They started playing in 1871. The first tournament was held in 1881. It was held in Westchester, New York. In the finals, Harvard beat Princeton 3 - 0. Although New York University was the first to play lacrosse, Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey is the college that has played lacrosse continuously longer than any one else. Stevens's lacrosse team was the only one to stay with it. They still have a great lacrosse team. They were 13 - 3 last season. 

Men's Colleges

     Some good lacrosse colleges are Syracuse, Princeton, Navy, Yale, and Johns Hopkins. Syracuse won the NCAA championship last year in 2004. They also won in 1983, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995, 2000, and 2002. Virginia is also a great team that won the NCAA championship two years ago. During the middle of the season last year, Johns Hopkins was ranked number one, although they did not win in the finals. Syracuse was ranked number four and they pulled themselves up to number one in the championship game. Some of the other top ranked teams last year were Maryland, Rutgers, North Carolina, Georgetown, and Cornell. 

Women's Colleges

     Women's lacrosse is much different than men's lacrosse. Many of the colleges are good in both men's and women's lacrosse. One of these colleges is Princeton. Princeton was ranked number one last season and was chasing their third straight national title. Virginia was also close behind in second, but ended up runner-up four times since 1996.