Princeton Opens Ivy Season At Penn

Saturday, March 18

Philadelphia, Pa.

7:00 PM

Princeton University

Penn

Cathal Roberts and the Tigers are at Penn Saturday (7 pm)

Photo by: Tom Gilbert

March 16, 2023 | Men's Lacrosse

PRINCETON (2-3) vs. PENN (2-3)
Saturday, March 18 • 7 p.m.
Franklin Field • Philadelphia, Pa.
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In-game Twitter updates (@tigerlacrosse)
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Probable Princeton starters
Career highs
Career scoring/pronunciations

Should the 2023 Princeton-Penn game end up 1-0, then the average score of the 2022 and 2023 games would be either 12-10 or 11-11, depending on who would win. Will Princeton and Penn match the offensive explosion that was their game a year ago in Princeton, where the Tigers won 21-20 on Chris Brown's goal in overtime? That game was named the top game of 2022 by, among others, Matt Kinnear of Inside Lacrosse.

The answer is "unlikely." Those 41 goals were the most combined ever in a Princeton game, and no other Princeton game ever had both teams reach 20 goals.

How many goals are scored is just a subplot. The bigger story is that this is the Ivy League opener for both, and as last year showed, every Ivy game is a toss up.

Princeton vs. Penn
Five Storylines

Remembering last year
Princeton defeated Penn 21-20 when Chris Brown scored on the first possession of overtime, giving him six goals for the day. That's one fewer than Penn's Cam Rubin, who scored seven goals while adding two assists.

Princeton led 9-3 midway through the second quarter, and Penn then had leads of 16-15 and 17-16 later in the game. Princeton led 20-19 on a goal from Brown with 2:06 left, and Penn tied it with 1:34 left on a Ben Smith goal. Princeton goalie Erik Peters forced the overtime by robbing James Shipley in the final seconds of regulation.

Penn went 5 for 5 on extra man opportunities and had a sixth goal man down. Sam Handley had three goals and eight assists, with three of his assists on man-up goals and then another on the man-down one.

Other than the six goals by Brown, Princeton's other 15 goals were all scored by players who will play in this year's game: Alexander Vardaro and Alex Slusher had three each, Christian Ronda, Sam English and Jake Stevens had two each and Coulter Mackesy and Tommy Barnds had one each.

History lesson
Princeton and Penn meet for the 90^th time, and Princeton holds a 68-21 edge in the series. Princeton defeated Penn every year from 1990 through 2010, but the teams have split the 10 meetings beginning in 2011.

The series dates to May 15, 1928, when Princeton defeated the Quakers 5-4 in overtime, which back then was a full 10-minute extra period (Princeton outscored Penn 2-1 in the OT; also, teams had 12 players on the field at a time back then as well).

The teams played every year from 1928 through 1942 and then didn't play against until after World War II (actually, they didn't play in 1946). Since 1947, the teams have played every year except for the Covid seasons of 2020 and 2021. The 2020 season was cancelled four days before Princeton and Penn were to meet.

Scoring margin
Before the game a year ago, the final margin of victory of the previous five games in the series were nine, seven, nine, 10, six.

Strength of schedule
Princeton is in Game 5 of a seven-game run against teams that reached the NCAA tournament a year ago. Penn won the 2022 Ivy League tournament and then defeated Richmond in the opening round of the tournament before falling to Rutgers in the quarterfinals.

After Penn, Princeton will host NCAA teams Yale (whom Princeton defeated to reach the Final Four last year) and Brown before the streak ends — against Syracuse. Beyond that, Princeton has a game at Dartmouth, one of three unbeaten teams in Division I, and then NCAA teams Harvard and Cornell.

In goal
Penn's Emmet Carroll played the final 19 minutes against Princeton a year ago, making five saves while allowing five goals. This year, as the Quaker starter, Carroll is third in the country in saves per game at 15.80.

Princeton has used two goalies this year, Griffen Rakower and Michael Gianforcaro. Between them, they average 14 saves per game. Carroll is also eighth in the country in save percentage at .581. Because they've split the position, neither Rakower nor Gianforcaro has played the minimum of the two-thirds of a team's minutes to be ranked. If you combined Princeton's two goalies, they would have a .567 percentage that would rank 14^th.

Other notes
With his current streak Coulter Mackesy is the second Princeton player in the last 22 years to have at least three goals in five straight games; the other was Gavin McBride, who did it twice in his career (2016, 2017). The last Princeton player to have at least three goals in six straight games was Sean Hartofilis in 2001 … Princeton has trailed at the half in its last four games … Penn ranks sixth in Division I in fewest turnovers per game; Princeton ranks 11^th … Princeton is ranked 17^th in the Inside Lacrosse media poll and 18^th in the USILA coaches' poll; Penn is ranked one spot above Princeton in both.

What can you say about? …

No. 0 Griffen Rakower (Sr., G)
* made his first five career starts and played the first half in all four games
* made 11 saves while allowing three goals in first half against Maryland
* also made 11 saves while allowing seven goals against Georgetown
* has a .603 save percentage that would be third in Division I (goalies must play two-thirds of their team's minutes to be ranked; he has played 50 percent)
* had six saves while allowing three goals against Monmouth
* had eight saves while allowing five goals against Manhattan

No. 2 Chad Palumbo (Fr., M)
* had two goals in his first game, against Monmouth
* became the seventh player to play for Matt Madalon who had two goals in the first game of his freshman year, along with: Michael Sowers, Phillip Robertson and Chris Brown and current players Alexander Vardaro, Alex Slusher and Coulter Mackesy

No. 3 Pace Billings (Jr, D)
* Tewaaraton Award watchlist
* started the first four games on close defense
* missed the Rutgers game due to injury
* has three caused turnovers and eight ground balls
* played mostly LSM last year, when he was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament team

No. 5 Alex Slusher (Sr., A)
* had a streak of at least one goal in 21 straight games snapped against Maryland; streak is eighth longest in program history
* has 58 career goals, second on the team, two behind Alexander Vardaro
* has more than doubled his assists per game from last year to this year, from .65 to 1.4
* one of two Princeton players to start every game of his career (Ben Finlay)
* one of Princeton's captains

No. 6 Cathal Roberts (Sr., LSM)
* has been a starter on D and an LSM while also playing on face-off wings
* has three caused turnovers and eight ground balls

No. 7 Luca Lazzaretto (Sr., LSM)
* has been a consistent LSM throughout his career

No. 10 Ben Finlay (Sr., D)
* has started every game of his career on defense
* has a caused turnover and eight ground balls
* one of Princeton's captains

No. 11 Sean Cameron (So., M)
* second-line midfielder
* had a goal against Georgetown
* had a goal against Manhattan
* older brother Brian plays for Rutgers

No. 12 Christian Ronda (Sr., M)
* has five goals and five assists this season
* had three goals and an assist against Rutgers after having two goals and four assists the first four games combined
* has more than twice as many assists this season in five games this year than he did a year ago in 16
* had 23 goals a year ago, including six in the NCAA tournament

No. 13 Joe Juengerkes (Jr., SSDM)
* second on the team with three caused turnovers

No. 14 Jake Stevens (Sr., M)
* preseason second-team All-American
* plays midfield and face-off wings
* leads team in ground balls and caused turnovers
* has seven goals, four caused turnovers and 15 ground balls
* had three goals, five ground balls and three caused turnovers against Georgetown; no other Princeton player has ever achieved at least all three of those in a game
* 2022 honorable mention All-American

No. 15 Sam English (Sr., M)
* Tewaaaraton Award watchlist
* has two goals and nine assists through three games
* tied the Rutgers game late in the fourth quarter to force overtime
* had 30 goals and 18 assists a year ago
* 2022 honorable mention All-American

No. 17 Michael Bath (So., LSM)
* plays LSM and on the face-off wings
* has three caused turnovers

No. 18 Luc Anderson (Sr., SSDM)
* one of the Tiger captains
* has two caused turnovers
* has been slowed by injuries most of his career

No. 19 Alexander Vardaro (Sr., A/M)
* second on the team with 11 goals
* had two goals and two assists against Rutgers in second start on attack
* had five goals against Monmouth and four against Manhattan
* first Princeton player in 29 years to have at least nine goals in the first two games of a season (Scott Reinhardt in 1993)
* Princeton's leading career scorer with 60 goals and 88 points

No. 21 Tommy Barnds (Jr., M)
* started as a midfielder against Georgetown and had a goal
* had a goal against Monmouth

No. 23 Beau Pederson (Sr., SSDM)
* preseason first-team All-American
* one of Princeton's captains
* had two caused turnovers against Maryland
* third-team All-American a year ago

No. 24 Marquez White (Jr., SSDM)
* first line defensive midfielder

No. 27 Michael Gianforcaro (Jr., G)
* has started the second half of every game
* made a career-high 10 saves while allowing five goals against Rutgers
* has made at least five saves in all five games
* had six saves against Georgetown
* made three of his five saves against Manhattan in the first four minutes of the third quarter, when Princeton went from down a goal to start an 8-2 run that led to a 14-9 win

No. 28 Jacob Stoebner (Sr., D)
* veteran defenseman who is part of the regular rotation
* started against Rutgers

No. 32 Andrew McMeekin (Fr., FO)
* has won 6 of 13 face-offs on the season
* went 1 for 3 against Maryland
* won 5 of 9 face-offs against Monmouth

No. 35 Tyler Sandoval (Jr., FO)
* has won 43 of 89 face-offs
* has 14 ground balls
* had an assist against Manhattan five seconds after another Princeton goal (it was the shortest elapsed time between goals in Princeton history)

No. 36 Braedon Saris (So., A)
* starter on attack after playing in two games a year ago, with one assist
* had three goals and three assists against Monmouth
* had a goal and two assists against Manhattan
* had an assist against Maryland
* missed the Georgetown and Rutgers games due to injury

No. 39 Weston Carpenter (Sr., M)
* has four goals this year, with one against Rutgers, Maryland, Manhattan and Monmouth
* did not have a goal in his career prior to this season

No. 43 Colin Mulshine (So., D)
* starter on defense
* has three caused turnovers and five ground balls
* had two caused turnovers against Georgetown
* started 11 games as a freshman, including the final nine

No. 50 Liam Fairback (So., SSDM)
* converted offensive midfielder who is in the regular defensive midfield rotation
* had first career caused turnover in the game against Rutgers

No. 91 Coulter Mackesy (So., A)
* leads team with 18 goals and 24 points
* has at least three goals in every game
* ranks fifth in Division I in goals per game (3.6)
* first Princeton player with at least three goals in five or more games since Gavin McBride did it twice (2016, 2017)
* is the first Princeton player since Gerry Ronon in 1982 to have at least 15 goals in the first four games
* has more games with at least three goals (eight) than fewer than three (four) in his last 12 games
* tied career highs with five goals and six points against Georgetown
* had three goals and three assists against Rutgers
* had three of Princeton's five goals against Maryland
* had four goals and two assists against Monmouth
* had three goals against Manhattan
* had 28 goals and 15 assists a year ago; his 43 points were the fourth-most ever by a Princeton freshman, behind only Michael Sowers, Kevin Lowe and Ryan Boyle

No. 99 Koby Ginder (So., FO)
* is 18 for 33 on face-offs for the season
* won 8 of 12 face-offs against Manhattan with five ground balls