Princeton University Athletics
Friday, May 5
New York
8:30 PM
Princeton University
vs
Penn
Photo by: Nick Ierardi
Princeton, Penn Meet In Ivy Tournament Semifinals At Columbia
May 04, 2023 | Men's Lacrosse
PRINCETON (6-6, 4-2 Ivy League) vs. PENN (7-5, 4-2 Ivy League)
Friday, May 5 • 8:30 pm
Lawrence A. Wien Stadium • Columbia University • New York, N.Y.
ESPNU/ESPN+
In-game Twitter updates (@tigerlacrosse)
ESPN+
Live Stats
Tickets
Princeton Laxcast With Matt Madalon and Luc Anderson
Probable Princeton starters
Career highs
Career scoring/pronunciations
Princeton Ivy League Tournament Individual Records
The Princeton men's lacrosse team has seven current players who have been starters at the NCAA Final Four, as well as eight other current players who got considerable playing time on Championship Weekend.
What Princeton doesn't have is a single player who has ever played in an Ivy League tournament game. That will change Friday night, when the third-seeded Tigers make their first ILT appearance since 2017 when they face second-seeded Penn in the second Ivy semifinal at Columbia's Lawrence A. Wien Stadium. The first game matches top-seeded Cornell and fourth-seeded Yale at 6; the winners play Sunday at noon for the league's automatic NCAA tournament bid.
Penn won the Ivy League tournament as the fourth seed a year ago.
Will this Princeton-Penn game be like the regular-season meeting between the teams this season? Will it be like last year's game between them? Odds are it'll be somewhere in between.
Princeton vs. Penn
Five Storylines
2023 vs. 2022
The total score of the last two games in this series is Princeton 29, Penn 29, and both games were decided in overtime. That's where anything common between the two games ends.
The 2022 game saw Princeton defeat Penn 21-20 in Princeton on Chris Brown's overtime goal, on a day when the teams combined for 94 shots and 99 ground balls. The 2023 regular season game at Penn saw the Quakers win 9-8 on Sam Handley's goal just before the end of the first OT period. That game featured 86 shots and 54 ground balls.
The 2023 game featured six goals after halftime. The 2022 game featured 22 goals after halftime. The 2022 game featured 41 goals and 22 saves. The 2023 game featured 17 goals and 27 saves.
The game at Franklin Field this year was the first start for Michael Gianforcaro, who made 17 saves. Princeton got two goals each from Jake Stevens, Alexander Vardaro and Sam English, with one goal each from Coulter Mackesy and Christian Ronda. Cathal Roberts, matched up with Handley (2G, 4A, 2 for 14 shooting), had three caused turnovers and three ground balls.
Penn got four goals from Ben Smith and 10 saves from Emmet Carroll. Princeton led 6-5 at the half.
How we got here
The Princeton men's lacrosse team started its Ivy season with an overtime loss and ended it with an overtime loss. In between, the Tigers ripped off four straight wins, none of which was closer than four goals and which had an average margin of victory of 8.25 goals.
Princeton lost in overtime to Cornell last Saturday, when a win would have given the Tigers the outright Ivy League championship and the top seed in the tournament.
Wins vs. Losses
Princeton is 6-6. Princeton is 6-0 when scoring at least 14 goals and 0-6 when scoring 13 or fewer, including 14-13 OT losses to both Rutgers and Cornell.
In its six wins, the Tigers have a groundball advantage of 222-201 while face-off percentage is fairly even, with Princeton at 91 for 186 and its opponents at 95 for 186.
In its six losses, Princeton has won 39.4 percent of its face-offs (63 for 160) and has a ground ball disadvantage of 220-169. On average, that's +3.5 ground balls in its six wins and minus-8.5 in its six losses.
All-Ivy Tigers
Princeton had eight All-Ivy League selections.
Coulter Mackesy (unanimous) and Alexander Vardaro were both named first-team All-Ivy League, both for the first time in their careers.
Beau Pederson, Pace Billings, Ben Finlay, Michael Gianforcaro and Cathal Roberts were all named second-team selections, while Christian Ronda was an honorable mention selection. Finlay was also Princeton's Academic All-Ivy selection.
Injured Tigers
Princeton is without several important members of its regular rotation due to injuries.
Sam English, a preseason Tewaaraton Watchlist selection, suffered a ruptured spleen against Syracuse, spent four nights in the hospital and hasn't played since. Luc Anderson, one of the team captains and one of the best SSDMs in the Ivy League, broke his wrist against Brown and hasn't played since.
Braedon Saris, a starter on attack, suffered a leg injury against Maryland and has played only twice since, on man-up offense against Syracuse and then for about half the game against Dartmouth (2G, 5A) before reinjuring the leg. English is third on the team in assists and fourth in points, and Saris is fourth in assists and sixth in points, despite all the time they've missed.
Princeton's top face-off man, Tyler Sandoval, tore his ACL against Syracuse and underwent surgery two weeks ago.
None of those four will return this season.
Pace Billings, Alex Slusher and Jack Ringhofer are starters who have missed games due to injury as well.
Other notes
* Princeton and Penn meet for the 91st time, and Princeton holds a 68-22 edge in the series. Princeton defeated Penn every year from 1990 through 2010, but Penn holds a 6-5 edge since 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.
* Prior to the back-to-back OT games, the margins of victory in the previous five games in the Princeton-Penn series were nine, seven, nine, 10 and six.
* Princeton allowed the fewest goals in the league in Ivy games (63), followed by Cornell (65) and Penn (69). Princeton (15.67) trailed only Cornell (16.33) in scoring offense in the six Ivy games; Penn was fourth at 13.50 (Yale was third at 14.50).
* Ben Finlay is the only Princeton player who has started every game of his career.
* Princeton has only four players who have started all 12 games — Coulter Mackesy (A), Alexander Vardaro (M/A), Ben Finlay and Colin Mulshine (D).
* Princeton has two players in double figures in caused turnovers, and both are LSMs: Cathal Roberts (16) and Michael Bath (11).
* Lukas Stanat has started the last six games and has 10 goals and six assists, including five goals and four assists in the last two. He had one goal in three career games prior to moving into the starting lineup.
* For the first time ever, Princeton has three players who've taken at least 100 face-offs in a season (Koby Ginder 133, Tyler Sandoval 107, Andrew McMeekin 103). All three of Princeton's face-off specialists took an overtime face-off. Against Penn in March, Ginder was 2 for 4, McMeekin was 1 for 1 and Sandoval was 5 for 16.
* Princeton has never lost three overtime games in a season before.
* Mike MacDonald, Class of 2015, holds most Princeton Ivy League tournament records, including goals in a career (18), points in a career (24), goals in a game (seven) and points in a game (nine). Tom Schreiber has the most career assists in ILT games of any Princeton player (eight). Not shockingly, Zach Currier has the records for ground balls in a game (16) and caused turnovers in a game (four), and equally as unshocking, Tyler Fiorito holds the records for saves in a game (16) and career (43). MacDonald, Kip Orban and Michael Sowers are the only Princeton players to have four or more goals in an ILT game.
What can you say about? …
No. 0 Griffen Rakower (Sr., G)
* made 11 saves while allowing three goals in first half against Maryland
* also made 11 saves while allowing seven goals against Georgetown
* has a .579 save percentage
* had six saves while allowing three goals against Monmouth
* had eight saves while allowing five goals against Manhattan
No. 3 Pace Billings (Jr, D)
* second-team All-Ivy League selection
* Tewaaraton Award watchlist
* started the first three games on close defense
* missed three games due to injury before returning against Brown
* has eight caused turnovers and 13 ground balls
* played mostly LSM last year, when he was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament team
No. 4 Paul Weathington Jr. (Jr., SSDM)
* has been injured for much of his career
* has played in four games this season after playing in eight last year
* has two ground balls
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
* had two goals against Cornell
* has 61 career goals
* had started every game of his career before missing two games in midseason due to injury
* one of Princeton's captains
* second-leading scorer on USA U-21 team at the 2022 World Championships
No. 6 Cathal Roberts (Sr., LSM)
* second-team All-Ivy League selection
* full-time LSM while also playing on face-off wings; had been a defensive starter earlier in his career
* leads team with 16 caused turnovers
* also has 22 ground balls
* had three caused turnovers and three ground balls against Penn
* had four caused turnovers against Syracuse and three against Dartmouth
No. 7 Luca Lazzaretto (Sr., LSM)
* has been a consistent LSM throughout his career
* plays man-down D this season
No. 10 Ben Finlay (Sr., D)
* only current Princeton player who has started every game of his career
* has five caused turnovers and 19 ground balls (most among longsticks)
* named to USILA Team of the Week after holding Yale's Matt Brandau without a goal, ending Brandau's 45-game goal scoring streak
* one of Princeton's captains
No. 11 Sean Cameron (So., M)
* has started the last three games at midfield after the injury to Sam English
* has seven goals and two assists in the last four games; had four goals and two assists in the first eight games
* had a goal and two assists against Cornell
* had three goals against Harvard
* had two goals and an assist against Yale
* had a goal against Georgetown
* had a goal against Manhattan
* older brother Brian plays for Rutgers
No. 12 Christian Ronda (Sr., M)
* honorable mention All-Ivy League selection
* has 18 goals and nine assists this season
* had four goals and two assists against Harvard for his fourth career game with at least four goals
* also had four goals against Yale
* had three goals and an assist against Rutgers
* had two goals and an assist against Brown
* scored the tying game goal with three minutes left against Penn
* had 23 goals a year ago, including six in the NCAA tournament
No. 13 Joe Juengerkes (Jr., SSDM)
* has played in every game as second line SSDM
* has four caused turnovers and three ground balls
No. 14 Jake Stevens (Sr., M)
* preseason second-team All-American
* plays midfield and face-off wings
* second on the team team in ground balls with 29
* has 15 goals and four caused turnovers
* 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
* has five games with at least two goals
* 2022 honorable mention All-American
No. 15 Sam English (Sr., M)
* Tewaaaraton Award watchlist
* ruptured his spleen on the first possession against Syracuse; spent four nights in the hospital and will not play again this season
* still third on the team with 13 assists
* had three goals and an assist against Brown
* scored the first goal of a game for the eighth time in his career when he scored Princeton's first goal against Brown
* had two goals and an assist against Penn
* 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 11 caused turnovers, second on the team, and 16 ground balls
* had a goal against Dartmouth, for his second career goal
* had three caused turnovers and five ground balls against Yale
* had two caused turnovers and three ground balls against Brown
No. 18 Luc Anderson (Sr., SSDM)
* one of the Tiger captains
* broke his wrist against Brown and has not played since; will miss the rest of the season
* has two caused turnovers
* had 30 ground balls and 10 caused turnovers as a freshman, but injuries have limited him to just 13 games since
No. 19 Alexander Vardaro (Sr., A/M)
* first-team All-Ivy League selection
* second on the team with 21 goals and tied for the team lead in assists with 20
* leads team with 15 assists
* became the 39th player in program history to reach 100 career points with his three assists against Brown
* had three goals against Cornell
* had a goal and four assists against Yale
* had two goals and two assists against Rutgers in second start on attack
* had two goals and two assists against Penn as well
* 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)
No. 21 Tommy Barnds (Jr., M)
* very solid second-line midfielder
* had a goal and two assists against Yale
* had a goal and two assists against Brown
* had a goal against Cornell
* started as a midfielder against Georgetown and had a goal
* had a goal against Monmouth
No. 23 Beau Pederson (Sr., SSDM)
* second-team All-Ivy League selection
* preseason first-team All-American
* one of Princeton's captains
* had nine caused turnovers and 21 ground balls
* had two goals against Yale, with a caused turnover and three ground balls
* had two caused turnovers against Maryland
* had two caused turnovers and three ground balls against Penn
* third-team All-American a year ago
No. 24 Marquez White (Jr., SSDM)
* first line defensive midfielder
* has seven caused turnovers and nine ground balls
* had one caused turnover in the first four games and now has one in each of the last four
No. 27 Michael Gianforcaro (Jr., G)
* second-team All-Ivy League selection
* has .579 save percentage, best in the Ivy League and fourth in Division I
* made first career start against Penn and made a career-high 17 saves
* had a career-high 20 saves while allowing nine goals against Harvard
* has at least 13 saves in every start
* made 14 saves in second start, against Yale
* made 13 saves against Brown
* started the second half of the first five games
* made 10 saves while allowing five goals against Rutgers
* 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
* held Yale's Leo Johnson to no goals and one assist while having three caused turnovers and three ground balls
* also started against Rutgers, Penn and Brown
* had five caused turnovers and seven ground balls
No. 29 Lukas Stanat (Jr., A)
* has 10 goals and six assists
* has started the last six games
* had two goals and four assists against Cornell
* had three goals against Dartmouth
No. 32 Andrew McMeekin (Fr., FO)
* two-time Ivy Rookie of the Week
* was 25 for 48 with 27 ground balls in wins over Dartmouth and Harvard, winning league's top rookie honor both times
* leads team with 31 ground balls
* won 3 of 5 against Yale
* won 5 of 9 face-offs against Monmouth
No. 35 Tyler Sandoval (Jr., FO)
* won 48 of 107 face-offs with 16 ground balls
* had an assist against Manhattan five seconds after another Princeton goal (it was the shortest elapsed time between goals in Princeton history)
* will miss the rest of the season after suffering knee injury against Syracuse
No. 36 Braedon Saris (So., A)
* is fourth on the team in assists and sixth in points despite playing in only five games and starting only three due to multiple injuries
* will miss the rest of the season
* had two goals and five assists against Dartmouth
* had three goals and three assists against Monmouth
* had a goal and two assists against Manhattan
* had an assist against Maryland
No. 39 Weston Carpenter (Sr., M)
* plays mostly man-up offense
* has five goals this year, with one against Yale, Rutgers, Maryland, Manhattan and Monmouth
* also has two assists
* did not have a goal in his career prior to this season
No. 43 Colin Mulshine (So., D)
* starter on defense
* has eight caused turnovers and 14 ground balls
* had two caused turnovers against Georgetown, Dartmouth and Cornell
* started 11 games as a freshman, including the final nine
No. 48 John Dunphey (Fr., M)
* has played on the second midfield unit for the last three games
* has three goals and two assists
* had Princeton's first goal against Cornell
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
* also has seven ground balls
No. 91 Coulter Mackesy (So., A)
* unanimous first-team All-Ivy League selection
* leads team with 45 goals and 65 points
* three time Ivy League Player of the Week
* has at least three goals in 10 of 12 games
* is second in Division I in points per game and fourth in goals per game
* is one of two players in program history with multiple games of at least 10 points (had 8G, 2A against both Harvard and Yale; Michael Sowers is the other player, and he did so five times)
* is the only player in program history with multiple career games of at least eight goals
* is the second Princeton player ever with at least 45 goals and 20 assists in a season (Mike MacDonald in 2015 was the other)
* is one of three Princeton players with at least 10 games of three goals or more in a season (Mike MacDonald in 2015, Chris Massey in 1997)
* became the first Princeton player with at least three goals in five or more games since Gavin McBride did it twice (2016, 2017)
* has three or more goals in 14 of 28 career games
* had career highs of eight goals and 10 points in win over Yale, earning Ivy Player of the Week and USA Lacrosse National Player of the Week honors
* had three goals and three assists against Brown for his second straight Ivy Player of the Week award
* had 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 60 for 133 on face-offs with 27 ground balls for the season
* won 15 of 29 with a goal and six ground balls against Yale
* had an assist aganst Brown
* won 9 of 17 against Maryland, Georgetown, Rutgers and Penn
* won 8 of 12 face-offs against Manhattan with five ground balls
Friday, May 5 • 8:30 pm
Lawrence A. Wien Stadium • Columbia University • New York, N.Y.
ESPNU/ESPN+
In-game Twitter updates (@tigerlacrosse)
ESPN+
Live Stats
Tickets
Princeton Laxcast With Matt Madalon and Luc Anderson
Probable Princeton starters
Career highs
Career scoring/pronunciations
Princeton Ivy League Tournament Individual Records
The Princeton men's lacrosse team has seven current players who have been starters at the NCAA Final Four, as well as eight other current players who got considerable playing time on Championship Weekend.
What Princeton doesn't have is a single player who has ever played in an Ivy League tournament game. That will change Friday night, when the third-seeded Tigers make their first ILT appearance since 2017 when they face second-seeded Penn in the second Ivy semifinal at Columbia's Lawrence A. Wien Stadium. The first game matches top-seeded Cornell and fourth-seeded Yale at 6; the winners play Sunday at noon for the league's automatic NCAA tournament bid.
Penn won the Ivy League tournament as the fourth seed a year ago.
Will this Princeton-Penn game be like the regular-season meeting between the teams this season? Will it be like last year's game between them? Odds are it'll be somewhere in between.
Princeton vs. Penn
Five Storylines
2023 vs. 2022
The total score of the last two games in this series is Princeton 29, Penn 29, and both games were decided in overtime. That's where anything common between the two games ends.
The 2022 game saw Princeton defeat Penn 21-20 in Princeton on Chris Brown's overtime goal, on a day when the teams combined for 94 shots and 99 ground balls. The 2023 regular season game at Penn saw the Quakers win 9-8 on Sam Handley's goal just before the end of the first OT period. That game featured 86 shots and 54 ground balls.
The 2023 game featured six goals after halftime. The 2022 game featured 22 goals after halftime. The 2022 game featured 41 goals and 22 saves. The 2023 game featured 17 goals and 27 saves.
The game at Franklin Field this year was the first start for Michael Gianforcaro, who made 17 saves. Princeton got two goals each from Jake Stevens, Alexander Vardaro and Sam English, with one goal each from Coulter Mackesy and Christian Ronda. Cathal Roberts, matched up with Handley (2G, 4A, 2 for 14 shooting), had three caused turnovers and three ground balls.
Penn got four goals from Ben Smith and 10 saves from Emmet Carroll. Princeton led 6-5 at the half.
How we got here
The Princeton men's lacrosse team started its Ivy season with an overtime loss and ended it with an overtime loss. In between, the Tigers ripped off four straight wins, none of which was closer than four goals and which had an average margin of victory of 8.25 goals.
Princeton lost in overtime to Cornell last Saturday, when a win would have given the Tigers the outright Ivy League championship and the top seed in the tournament.
Wins vs. Losses
Princeton is 6-6. Princeton is 6-0 when scoring at least 14 goals and 0-6 when scoring 13 or fewer, including 14-13 OT losses to both Rutgers and Cornell.
In its six wins, the Tigers have a groundball advantage of 222-201 while face-off percentage is fairly even, with Princeton at 91 for 186 and its opponents at 95 for 186.
In its six losses, Princeton has won 39.4 percent of its face-offs (63 for 160) and has a ground ball disadvantage of 220-169. On average, that's +3.5 ground balls in its six wins and minus-8.5 in its six losses.
All-Ivy Tigers
Princeton had eight All-Ivy League selections.
Coulter Mackesy (unanimous) and Alexander Vardaro were both named first-team All-Ivy League, both for the first time in their careers.
Beau Pederson, Pace Billings, Ben Finlay, Michael Gianforcaro and Cathal Roberts were all named second-team selections, while Christian Ronda was an honorable mention selection. Finlay was also Princeton's Academic All-Ivy selection.
Injured Tigers
Princeton is without several important members of its regular rotation due to injuries.
Sam English, a preseason Tewaaraton Watchlist selection, suffered a ruptured spleen against Syracuse, spent four nights in the hospital and hasn't played since. Luc Anderson, one of the team captains and one of the best SSDMs in the Ivy League, broke his wrist against Brown and hasn't played since.
Braedon Saris, a starter on attack, suffered a leg injury against Maryland and has played only twice since, on man-up offense against Syracuse and then for about half the game against Dartmouth (2G, 5A) before reinjuring the leg. English is third on the team in assists and fourth in points, and Saris is fourth in assists and sixth in points, despite all the time they've missed.
Princeton's top face-off man, Tyler Sandoval, tore his ACL against Syracuse and underwent surgery two weeks ago.
None of those four will return this season.
Pace Billings, Alex Slusher and Jack Ringhofer are starters who have missed games due to injury as well.
Other notes
* Princeton and Penn meet for the 91st time, and Princeton holds a 68-22 edge in the series. Princeton defeated Penn every year from 1990 through 2010, but Penn holds a 6-5 edge since 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.
* Prior to the back-to-back OT games, the margins of victory in the previous five games in the Princeton-Penn series were nine, seven, nine, 10 and six.
* Princeton allowed the fewest goals in the league in Ivy games (63), followed by Cornell (65) and Penn (69). Princeton (15.67) trailed only Cornell (16.33) in scoring offense in the six Ivy games; Penn was fourth at 13.50 (Yale was third at 14.50).
* Ben Finlay is the only Princeton player who has started every game of his career.
* Princeton has only four players who have started all 12 games — Coulter Mackesy (A), Alexander Vardaro (M/A), Ben Finlay and Colin Mulshine (D).
* Princeton has two players in double figures in caused turnovers, and both are LSMs: Cathal Roberts (16) and Michael Bath (11).
* Lukas Stanat has started the last six games and has 10 goals and six assists, including five goals and four assists in the last two. He had one goal in three career games prior to moving into the starting lineup.
* For the first time ever, Princeton has three players who've taken at least 100 face-offs in a season (Koby Ginder 133, Tyler Sandoval 107, Andrew McMeekin 103). All three of Princeton's face-off specialists took an overtime face-off. Against Penn in March, Ginder was 2 for 4, McMeekin was 1 for 1 and Sandoval was 5 for 16.
* Princeton has never lost three overtime games in a season before.
* Mike MacDonald, Class of 2015, holds most Princeton Ivy League tournament records, including goals in a career (18), points in a career (24), goals in a game (seven) and points in a game (nine). Tom Schreiber has the most career assists in ILT games of any Princeton player (eight). Not shockingly, Zach Currier has the records for ground balls in a game (16) and caused turnovers in a game (four), and equally as unshocking, Tyler Fiorito holds the records for saves in a game (16) and career (43). MacDonald, Kip Orban and Michael Sowers are the only Princeton players to have four or more goals in an ILT game.
What can you say about? …
No. 0 Griffen Rakower (Sr., G)
* made 11 saves while allowing three goals in first half against Maryland
* also made 11 saves while allowing seven goals against Georgetown
* has a .579 save percentage
* had six saves while allowing three goals against Monmouth
* had eight saves while allowing five goals against Manhattan
No. 3 Pace Billings (Jr, D)
* second-team All-Ivy League selection
* Tewaaraton Award watchlist
* started the first three games on close defense
* missed three games due to injury before returning against Brown
* has eight caused turnovers and 13 ground balls
* played mostly LSM last year, when he was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament team
No. 4 Paul Weathington Jr. (Jr., SSDM)
* has been injured for much of his career
* has played in four games this season after playing in eight last year
* has two ground balls
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
* had two goals against Cornell
* has 61 career goals
* had started every game of his career before missing two games in midseason due to injury
* one of Princeton's captains
* second-leading scorer on USA U-21 team at the 2022 World Championships
No. 6 Cathal Roberts (Sr., LSM)
* second-team All-Ivy League selection
* full-time LSM while also playing on face-off wings; had been a defensive starter earlier in his career
* leads team with 16 caused turnovers
* also has 22 ground balls
* had three caused turnovers and three ground balls against Penn
* had four caused turnovers against Syracuse and three against Dartmouth
No. 7 Luca Lazzaretto (Sr., LSM)
* has been a consistent LSM throughout his career
* plays man-down D this season
No. 10 Ben Finlay (Sr., D)
* only current Princeton player who has started every game of his career
* has five caused turnovers and 19 ground balls (most among longsticks)
* named to USILA Team of the Week after holding Yale's Matt Brandau without a goal, ending Brandau's 45-game goal scoring streak
* one of Princeton's captains
No. 11 Sean Cameron (So., M)
* has started the last three games at midfield after the injury to Sam English
* has seven goals and two assists in the last four games; had four goals and two assists in the first eight games
* had a goal and two assists against Cornell
* had three goals against Harvard
* had two goals and an assist against Yale
* had a goal against Georgetown
* had a goal against Manhattan
* older brother Brian plays for Rutgers
No. 12 Christian Ronda (Sr., M)
* honorable mention All-Ivy League selection
* has 18 goals and nine assists this season
* had four goals and two assists against Harvard for his fourth career game with at least four goals
* also had four goals against Yale
* had three goals and an assist against Rutgers
* had two goals and an assist against Brown
* scored the tying game goal with three minutes left against Penn
* had 23 goals a year ago, including six in the NCAA tournament
No. 13 Joe Juengerkes (Jr., SSDM)
* has played in every game as second line SSDM
* has four caused turnovers and three ground balls
No. 14 Jake Stevens (Sr., M)
* preseason second-team All-American
* plays midfield and face-off wings
* second on the team team in ground balls with 29
* has 15 goals and four caused turnovers
* 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
* has five games with at least two goals
* 2022 honorable mention All-American
No. 15 Sam English (Sr., M)
* Tewaaaraton Award watchlist
* ruptured his spleen on the first possession against Syracuse; spent four nights in the hospital and will not play again this season
* still third on the team with 13 assists
* had three goals and an assist against Brown
* scored the first goal of a game for the eighth time in his career when he scored Princeton's first goal against Brown
* had two goals and an assist against Penn
* 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 11 caused turnovers, second on the team, and 16 ground balls
* had a goal against Dartmouth, for his second career goal
* had three caused turnovers and five ground balls against Yale
* had two caused turnovers and three ground balls against Brown
No. 18 Luc Anderson (Sr., SSDM)
* one of the Tiger captains
* broke his wrist against Brown and has not played since; will miss the rest of the season
* has two caused turnovers
* had 30 ground balls and 10 caused turnovers as a freshman, but injuries have limited him to just 13 games since
No. 19 Alexander Vardaro (Sr., A/M)
* first-team All-Ivy League selection
* second on the team with 21 goals and tied for the team lead in assists with 20
* leads team with 15 assists
* became the 39th player in program history to reach 100 career points with his three assists against Brown
* had three goals against Cornell
* had a goal and four assists against Yale
* had two goals and two assists against Rutgers in second start on attack
* had two goals and two assists against Penn as well
* 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)
No. 21 Tommy Barnds (Jr., M)
* very solid second-line midfielder
* had a goal and two assists against Yale
* had a goal and two assists against Brown
* had a goal against Cornell
* started as a midfielder against Georgetown and had a goal
* had a goal against Monmouth
No. 23 Beau Pederson (Sr., SSDM)
* second-team All-Ivy League selection
* preseason first-team All-American
* one of Princeton's captains
* had nine caused turnovers and 21 ground balls
* had two goals against Yale, with a caused turnover and three ground balls
* had two caused turnovers against Maryland
* had two caused turnovers and three ground balls against Penn
* third-team All-American a year ago
No. 24 Marquez White (Jr., SSDM)
* first line defensive midfielder
* has seven caused turnovers and nine ground balls
* had one caused turnover in the first four games and now has one in each of the last four
No. 27 Michael Gianforcaro (Jr., G)
* second-team All-Ivy League selection
* has .579 save percentage, best in the Ivy League and fourth in Division I
* made first career start against Penn and made a career-high 17 saves
* had a career-high 20 saves while allowing nine goals against Harvard
* has at least 13 saves in every start
* made 14 saves in second start, against Yale
* made 13 saves against Brown
* started the second half of the first five games
* made 10 saves while allowing five goals against Rutgers
* 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
* held Yale's Leo Johnson to no goals and one assist while having three caused turnovers and three ground balls
* also started against Rutgers, Penn and Brown
* had five caused turnovers and seven ground balls
No. 29 Lukas Stanat (Jr., A)
* has 10 goals and six assists
* has started the last six games
* had two goals and four assists against Cornell
* had three goals against Dartmouth
No. 32 Andrew McMeekin (Fr., FO)
* two-time Ivy Rookie of the Week
* was 25 for 48 with 27 ground balls in wins over Dartmouth and Harvard, winning league's top rookie honor both times
* leads team with 31 ground balls
* won 3 of 5 against Yale
* won 5 of 9 face-offs against Monmouth
No. 35 Tyler Sandoval (Jr., FO)
* won 48 of 107 face-offs with 16 ground balls
* had an assist against Manhattan five seconds after another Princeton goal (it was the shortest elapsed time between goals in Princeton history)
* will miss the rest of the season after suffering knee injury against Syracuse
No. 36 Braedon Saris (So., A)
* is fourth on the team in assists and sixth in points despite playing in only five games and starting only three due to multiple injuries
* will miss the rest of the season
* had two goals and five assists against Dartmouth
* had three goals and three assists against Monmouth
* had a goal and two assists against Manhattan
* had an assist against Maryland
No. 39 Weston Carpenter (Sr., M)
* plays mostly man-up offense
* has five goals this year, with one against Yale, Rutgers, Maryland, Manhattan and Monmouth
* also has two assists
* did not have a goal in his career prior to this season
No. 43 Colin Mulshine (So., D)
* starter on defense
* has eight caused turnovers and 14 ground balls
* had two caused turnovers against Georgetown, Dartmouth and Cornell
* started 11 games as a freshman, including the final nine
No. 48 John Dunphey (Fr., M)
* has played on the second midfield unit for the last three games
* has three goals and two assists
* had Princeton's first goal against Cornell
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
* also has seven ground balls
No. 91 Coulter Mackesy (So., A)
* unanimous first-team All-Ivy League selection
* leads team with 45 goals and 65 points
* three time Ivy League Player of the Week
* has at least three goals in 10 of 12 games
* is second in Division I in points per game and fourth in goals per game
* is one of two players in program history with multiple games of at least 10 points (had 8G, 2A against both Harvard and Yale; Michael Sowers is the other player, and he did so five times)
* is the only player in program history with multiple career games of at least eight goals
* is the second Princeton player ever with at least 45 goals and 20 assists in a season (Mike MacDonald in 2015 was the other)
* is one of three Princeton players with at least 10 games of three goals or more in a season (Mike MacDonald in 2015, Chris Massey in 1997)
* became the first Princeton player with at least three goals in five or more games since Gavin McBride did it twice (2016, 2017)
* has three or more goals in 14 of 28 career games
* had career highs of eight goals and 10 points in win over Yale, earning Ivy Player of the Week and USA Lacrosse National Player of the Week honors
* had three goals and three assists against Brown for his second straight Ivy Player of the Week award
* had 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 60 for 133 on face-offs with 27 ground balls for the season
* won 15 of 29 with a goal and six ground balls against Yale
* had an assist aganst Brown
* won 9 of 17 against Maryland, Georgetown, Rutgers and Penn
* won 8 of 12 face-offs against Manhattan with five ground balls
Players Mentioned
Midfield
/ Men's Lacrosse
Attack
/ Men's Lacrosse
LSM
/ Men's Lacrosse
Defense
/ Men's Lacrosse
Attack
/ Men's Lacrosse
Midfield
/ Men's Lacrosse
Attack
/ Men's Lacrosse
Midfield
/ Men's Lacrosse
Midfield
/ Men's Lacrosse
Midfield
/ Men's Lacrosse
Defense
/ Men's Lacrosse
Goalie
/ Men's Lacrosse
FO/Midfield
/ Men's Lacrosse
LSM
/ Men's Lacrosse
Attack
/ Men's Lacrosse
Face-Off
/ Men's Lacrosse
Defense
/ Men's Lacrosse
Midfield
/ Men's Lacrosse
Goalie
/ Men's Lacrosse
Attack
/ Men's Lacrosse
Defense
/ Men's Lacrosse
Attack
/ Men's Lacrosse
FO
/ Men's Lacrosse
Attack
/ Men's Lacrosse
Attack
/ Men's Lacrosse
Attack
/ Men's Lacrosse
Midfield
/ Men's Lacrosse
Defense
/ Men's Lacrosse
Midfield
/ Men's Lacrosse
Midfield
/ Men's LacrosseSticks and Stripes - Episode 3
Wednesday, May 14
Sticks and Stripes - Episode 2
Wednesday, April 23
Sticks and Stripes - Episode 1
Wednesday, April 09
Reflections from the Princeton Athletics Class of 2024
Tuesday, June 04