Princeton Completes Southern Swing At No. 1 Duke Sunday

Sunday, March 3

Durham, N.C.

12:00 PM

Princeton University

Duke

Buy Tickets

Photo by: Brian McWalters

Princeton Completes Southern Swing At No. 1 Duke Sunday

March 02, 2024 | Men's Lacrosse

PRINCETON (3-1, No. 15 Inside Lacrosse, No. 14 USILA, No. 14 USA Lacrosse Magazine)
at DUKE (4-1, No. 18 Inside Lacrosse, No. 19 USILA, No. 20 USA Lacrosse Magazine)

Sunday, March 3 • noon
Koskinen Stadium • Durham, N.C.
ACCNX

In-game Twitter updates (@tigerlacrosse)
ACCNX
Live Stats
Tickets

Probable Princeton starters
Career highs
Career scoring/pronunciations

Day 1 of the Ivy/ACC matchups on Tobacco Road went to the Ivies. What will Day 2 hold?

In the rain Friday night, the scores were Princeton 15, North Carolina 9 and Penn 14, Duke 12. The forecast for Sunday is clear and warm for Princeton's first game in Durham since 1952.

Princeton (No. 15 Inside Lacrosse, No. 14 USILA, No. 14 USA Lacrosse Magazine) at Duke (No. 1 Inside Lacrosse, No. 1 USILA, No. 1 USA Lacrosse Magazine)
Five storylines

Series history
This is the first meeting between Princeton and Duke since a 7-6 Tiger win in three overtimes on Sherrerd Field in 2002. The game-winner that night was scored by B.J. Prager, assisted by Ryan Boyle. As an aside, Boyle, the Hall of Famer, had at least one point in every game of his Princeton career, and that assist in OT was his lone point of the night.

Of the nine previous meetings, two of them came in the NCAA tournament, in the 1997 semifinals and the 1998 quarterfinals. Princeton trailed in the second half of both games, 9-7 in 1997 and 8-4 in 1998, and came back to win both — and the NCAA title, running the team's streak to three straight, something that has not been matched since.

The Tigers and Blue Devils first played in 1947, when Princeton's Hall-of-Fame football coach Dick Colman was also the men's lacrosse coach. Duke's win was in the 1952 game in Durham.

Youth movement
Princeton's starting attack consists of a junior (Coulter Mackesy) and two freshmen (Colin Burns, Nate Kabiri). The first midfield consists of three sophomores (Quinn Krammer, John Dunphey, Chad Palumbo). The second midfield consists of a freshman (Tucker Wade), a junior (Sean Cameron) and a senior (Tommy Barnds).

Youth movement II
Between 1995 and the present, Princeton has had eight freshmen with three or more games with at least three goals. Both Colin Burns and Nate Kabiri are on that list, despite having played only four games.

Kabiri is the first Princeton freshman ever with at least three goals in each of his first four games, and his 14 goals are the most by a Princeton freshman in his first four games.

The last time Princeton started two freshmen on attack was 1995, with Jon Hess and Chris Massey. Jesse Hubbard played midfield that season before moving onto the attack line the next three years.

Shorting
Princeton's shortstick defensive midfielders (Liam Fairback, Joe Juengerkes, Michael Kelly, Cooper Mueller and Marquez White) combined for two caused turnovers and 10 ground balls against North Carolina Friday night.

Scoreboard
Princeton has won three games, and scored 15 goals in all three — defeating Monmouth 15-5, Manhattan 15-6 and North Carolina 15-9.

In Princeton's only loss, the Tigers were held to seven in a 13-7 game at Maryland.

Other notes

* Princeton's Nate Kabiri and Coulter Mackesy scored goals five seconds apart in the second quarter against North Carolina, equaling the school record for the shortest elapsed time between goals.

* Princeton's 2024 lineup through four games features exactly four players in the same role as in the final game of 2023 (against Penn State in the NCAA tournament): midfielder Sean Cameron, goalie Michael Gianforcaro, starting attackman Coulter Mackesy, starting defenseman Colin Mulshine. Princeton does have other experienced players, though many are in different roles than last year. Pace Billings was a starter last year on close defense, and he is the No. 1 longstick midfielder this year. Tommy Barnds has played attack and as a second-line middie; he's now been on the first midfield unit. Marquez White has always been the No. 2 SSDM; he's the No. 1 man at the position this year. Lukas Stanat has moved from attack to midfield. Former LSM's Cooper Kistler and Michael Bath are now starting defensemen. Chad Palumbo was an attackman who played in five games last year; he is now a first-line midfielder.

* Michael Gianforcaro has two career games with 20 or more saves (20 against Harvard in 2023, 20 against Maryland this season). From 2008 through the present, Gianforcaro has as many games with at least 20 saves as every other Princeton goalie combined (Erik Peters with 21 vs. Rutgers in 2022, Tyler Blaisdell with 20 against Johns Hopkins in 2016).

* Andrew McMeekin won 6 of 8 face-offs in the second quarter against North Carolina Friday night. Prior to that, he had won 2 of 24 dating back to the Maryland game. Against UNC he won 10 of the final 20 and finished with six ground balls, two caused turnovers and an assist.

* Princeton has won six NCAA championships and played in 11 Final Fours, most recently reaching Championship Weekend in 2022. Princeton also played in last year's NCAA tournament, falling in the opening round 13-12 at Penn State.

* Princeton has the No. 1 freshman class in the country according to Inside Lacrosse.