Princeton Heads To Yale For Regular Season Finale

Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

April 25, 2024 | Men's Lacrosse

PRINCETON (8-4, 3-2 Ivy League; No. 13 Inside Lacrosse, No. 16 USILA, No. 14 USA Lacrosse Magazine)
vs.
YALE (11-2, 4-1 Ivy League; No. 9 Inside Lacrosse, No. 8 USILA, No. 9 USA Lacrosse Magazine)

Saturday, April 27 • 12 pm
Reese Stadium • New Haven, Conn.
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A – At Stake
A Princeton win over Yale would give the Tigers a spot in the Ivy League tournament and the second seed. A Yale win over Princeton would give the Bulldogs at least a share of the Ivy title. A Princeton loss to Yale coupled with a Harvard win over Brown (in a game that begins at 3:30 Saturday) would also give Princeton an ILT spot. Cornell, Yale and Penn are already in the league tournament.

B – Burns
Colin Burns scored his 20th goal of the season a week ago against Penn, and he and Nate Kabiri (29 goals) are now the second pair of Princeton freshmen to reach 20 goals in the same season. The other two? That would be Jesse Hubbard (23) and Chris Massey (21) in 1995.

C – Caused Turnovers
Michael Bath leads the Ivy League with 1.67 caused turnovers per game. He also has 20 for the season, joining this list of Princeton players with at least 20 caused turnovers in a season (stat first kept in 2019):
33 – Chad Wiedmaier (2012)
24 – Chad Wiedmaier (2009)
23 – George Baughan (2019)
22 – Long Ellis (2010)
21 – Zach Currier (2017)
20 – Michael Bath (2024)
20 – George Baughan (2022)

D – Defense
Princeton leads the Ivy League in scoring defense at 10.17 goals per game. Yale leads Division I in scoring offense (16.54) and has not been held below 12 goals this season; Princeton has held eight of its 12 opponents to fewer than 12 goals.

E – Extra man
Princeton has scored 13 extra-man goals this year (in 33 opportunities), while its opponents have 10 (in 21). The last time Princeton had fewer than 10 for a full season was 2010, when the Tigers had only nine. Yale has seven extra-man goals for the season.

F – FOGO Goals
Andrew McMeekin has seven goals this season. In the last 35 years, here is the list of Princeton players who have taken more than half of the team’s face-offs and scored at least seven goals (special mention of Zach Currier, who scored 24 goals in 2017 while taking 46 percent of the team’s face-offs):
Jeff Froccaro (2010) 15 goals
Greg Waller (1992) 14 goals
Paul Murphy (1994) 13 goals
Matt Bailer (1999) 9 goals
Andrew McMeekin (2024) 7 goals

G – Gianforcaro
Michael Gianforcaro had 15 saves and 10 goals-against in the win over Penn last Saturday while also scoring the first goal by a Princeton goalie since Alex Hewit against Brown in 2008. For his efforts Gianforcaro was named Inside Lacrosse Division I Player of the Week, the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week and to the USILA Team of the Week.

H – History Lesson
Yale’s Matt Brandau has 11 goals and nine assists in five career games against Princeton. He had nine goals and five assists in his first two games against Princeton (4-2 in 2019, 5-3 in 2022 regular season). He has two goals and four assists in his last three games against Princeton (2022 NCAA quarterfinal, 2023 regular season, 2023 Ivy tournament).

I – Ivy League
The current Ivy League standings:
Yale/Cornell 4-1
Penn 4-2
Princeton 3-2
Brown 2-3
Harvard 1-4
Dartmouth 0-5
This weekend’s schedule:
Princeton at Yale
Brown at Harvard
Cornell at Dartmouth

J – Just Saying
Princeton has played 12 games but has only five different final scoring totals. The Tigers have scored either 15 (five times), 14 (three times), 12 (twice) and seven and eight (once each).

K – Kabiri
Nate Kabiri on Princeton’s freshman records charts:
Goals by a freshman
41 Michael Sowers (2017)
29 Nate Kabiri (2024)
28 Coulter Mackesy (2022)/Michael Chanenchuk (2010)
Points by a freshman
1. Michael Sowers, 2017, 82 (41G, 41A)
2. Kevin Lowe, 1991, 55 (12G, 43A)
3. Ryan Boyle, 2001, 53 (16G, 37A)
4. Nate Kabiri, 2024, 45 (29G, 16A)
5. Coulter Mackesy, 2022, 43 (28G, 15A)

L – Lots Of Assists
Nate Kabiri has 16 assists for the season, of which nine came in the first 10 games and seven have come in the last two weeks (four against Brown, three against Penn).

M – Mackesy
Junior Coulter Mackesy on Princeton’s career lists:
Career points
10. Chris Brown (2018-22) 179
11. Wick Sollers (1975-77) 174
12. Coulter Mackesy (2022-present) 168
Career goals
1. Jesse Hubbard (1995-98) 163
2. Chris Massey (1995-98) 146
3. Michael MacDonald (2012-15) 132
4. Sean Hartofilis (2000-03) 126
5. Michael Sowers (2017-20) 121
6. Justin Tortolani 1989-92) 120
7. B.J. Prager (1999-2002) 118
8. Wick Sollers (1975-77) 114
9. Coulter Mackesy (2022-present) 112

N – New Haven
Princeton has defeated Yale three straight times, with wins at Hofstra (NCAA quarterfinal 2022), Princeton (2023 regular season) and Columbia (2023 Ivy tournament final). Princeton’s last win in New Haven came in 2012, when Alex Capretta ended the longest game in program history with a goal in the fifth overtime. Since then, Princeton is 0-4 at Yale against the Bulldogs (and 0-5, counting a 2017 Ivy League tournament loss to Brown), and four of those five games have been by one or two goals (two each).

O – Offense
Princeton goal scoring by class:
Freshmen 59
Sophomores 38
Juniors 44
Seniors 15

P – Palumbo
Chad Palumbo has gone from two goals and no assists as a freshman last year to 17 goals and 10 assists this year. The highest goal total for a Princeton sophomore after having two or fewer goals as a freshman is 18, from Charlie Durbin in 2017. Palumbo is also the first Princeton sophomore middie to be in double figures in goals and assists since Gavin McBride in 2015.

Q – Quantity
Princeton took a season-high 56 shots in the win over Penn last weekend. The only time Princeton has taken a higher total in the last two years was in the Ivy League regular season last year against Yale, with 66.

R – Riding
Yale is seventh in Division I in opponent clearing percentage (.808), just ahead of Penn, who is at .811. Princeton was 24 for 30 last week against Penn, including 24 for 28 after two failed clears to start the game.

S – Seniors
Princeton’s seniors had combined for 10 goals in the team’s first 11 games and then combined for five last week against Penn (two each from Tommy Barnds and Lukas Stanat, one by Michael Gianforcaro).

T – Tewaaraton Nominee
Coulter Mackesy is a Tewaaraton Award Nominee, making him one of the 25 players under consideration, for the second straight year.

U – Underclassmen
The top 21 players in Princeton’s regular rotation by class: five freshmen, six sophomores, six juniors and four seniors.

V – VIII
Princeton has eight players who have started every game this season: Nate Kabiri, Colin Burnsw and Coulter Mackesy on attack; Chad Palumbo in the midfield; Colin Mulshine, Cooper Kistler and Michael Bath on defense and Michael Gianforcaro in goal. A year ago, Princeton had only four players who started every game (including Mackesy and Mulshine). Nate Kabiri and Colin Burns are the only two current Princeton players to have started every game of his career.

W – Waiting
Princeton has scored zero goals in the first 10 minutes in each of its last two games. Princeton has scored 27 goals in the final 50 minutes in each of its last two games.

X – The X

Yale’s Machado Rodriguez leads Division I in face-off winning percentage at .640. Princeton’s Andrew McMeekin leads all Division I FOGOs in goals scored, with seven, including two last week against Penn.

Y – Yale
Princeton has played Yale more than any other team. In fact this will be the 110th meeting between the teams in a series that dates to Oct. 14, 1882, and Princeton leads the series 77-30-2.

Z – Zinged
Princeton had eight caused turnovers against Penn last Saturday, and six of those came from shortstick defensive midfielders, with two each for Marquez White and Michael Kelly and one each for Liam Fairback and Cooper Mueller.