Princeton University Athletics
Princeton, Yale Meet In Ivy Tournament Semifinal
May 02, 2024 | Men's Lacrosse
PRINCETON (9-4, 4-2 Ivy League; No. 2 Seed)
vs.
YALE (11-3, 4-2 Ivy League; No. 3 Seed)
Ivy League Tournament
Friday, May 3 • 6 pm
Schoellkopf Field • Ithaca, N.Y.
ESPNU/ESPN+
In-Game Twitter Updates (@tigerlacrosse)
ESPN+
Live Stats
Tickets
Princeton Laxcast With Matt Madalon
Probable Princeton starters
Career highs
Career scoring/pronunciations
A – Automatic Bid
Princeton earned the second seed in the Ivy League tournament by defeating Penn and Yale in the final two weekends of the regular season. The winner of the game between the Tigers and third-seeded Yale will face the winner of the game between top-seeded Cornell and fourth-seeded Penn at 1 Sunday for the Ivy League’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. A year ago, Princeton defeated Penn and Yale to win the Ivy tournament and advance to the NCAA tournament for the second straight season.
B – Bath
Michael Bath leads the Ivy League with 1.62 caused turnovers per game. He also has 22 for the season, joining this list of Princeton players with at least 20 caused turnovers in a season (stat first kept in 2009):
33 – Chad Wiedmaier (2012)
24 – Chad Wiedmaier (2009)
23 – George Baughan (2019)
22 – Michael Bath (2024)
22 – Long Ellis (2010)
21 – Zach Currier (2017)
20 – George Baughan (2022)
C – Coulter
Junior Coulter Mackesy is tied with Jesse Hubbard for the most goals by a Princeton player by the end of his junior year at 117 each. Hubbard is Princeton’s career leader with 163 goals. Here is where Mackesy currently stands on Princeton’s career lists:
Career points
9. Dave Heubeck (1977-80) 182
10. Chris Brown (2018-22) 179
11. Wick Sollers (1975-77) 174
12. Coulter Mackesy (2022-present) 173
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. Coulter Mackesy (2022-present) 117
D – Defense
Princeton leads the Ivy League in scoring defense at 10.00 goals per game. Yale has the No. 1 scoring offense in Division I at 15.93 goals per game and has only been held below 12 goals once all season — a week ago against Princeton in the 15-8 Tiger win.
E – ESPNU
All three Ivy League tournament games will be shown on ESPNU, with Chris Cotter, Paul Carcaterra and Quint Kessenich on the call.
F – Freshman Scoring
Princeton’s freshman class has combined for 61 goals (29 by Nate Kabiri, 20 by Colin Burns, 12 by Tucker Wade); only North Carolina, with 73, had more freshman goals this season in Division I. Princeton’s 61 goals by its freshman are the most by any freshman class in program history, with the 1995 freshman class second, with 58.
G – Gianforcaro
Michael Gianforcaro, who leads the Ivy League in goals-against average at 10.00, has made 31 saves while allowing 18 goals — and scoring a goal of his own — in the last two weeks. Gianforcaro has made 47 saves and allowed 25 goals in three career games against Yale, for a .653 save percentage.
H – History Lesson
Yale’s Matt Brandau has 13 goals and 10 assists in six 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 — both Yale wins). He has four goals and five assists in his last four games against Princeton (2022 NCAA quarterfinal, 2023 regular season, 2023 Ivy tournament, 2024 regular season — all four Princeton wins). The record for most points in a career by a player against Princeton belongs to Mikey Powell, who had 32 for Syracuse between 2001-04 — and that includes being shut out in one game by Damien Davis.
I – Ivy Tournament
Princeton has won two Ivy League tournaments — the first one in 2010 and the most recent one a year ago. Yale has won five Ivy tournaments, the most of any school.
J – Just Saying
Princeton has played 13 games but has had only five different final scoring totals. The Tigers have scored either 15 (six times), 14 (three times), 12 (twice) and seven and eight (once each).
K – Kabiri
Nate Kabiri is second on the team in goals (29) and assists (17, including eight in the last three games). Here is where he stands 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, 46 (29G, 17A)
5. Coulter Mackesy, 2022, 43 (28G, 15A)
L – League Honors
Princeton had eight players named to the All-Ivy League teams, including two first-team selections (Colin Mulshine, Marquez White). Princeton’s five second-team selections were Michael Bath, Michael Gianforcaro, Coulter Mackesy, Andrew McMeekin and Chad Palumbo, while Nate Kabiri was an honorable mention selection. In addition, Sean Cameron was Princeton’s Academic All-Ivy League pick. Yale led all teams with five first-team All-Ivy players.
M – Meeks
Andrew McMeekin has a .551 winning percentage on face-offs, the best for a Princeton player who has taken at least 50 percent of the team’s draws since Matt Bailer had a .571 percentage in 1999. McMeekin went 20 for 26 with 17 ground balls, tying his career high in FO wins and setting a career high in GBs while earning Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week honors. The sophomore also has seven goals this season, the most by any Division I FOGO 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
N – No. 13
Princeton’s RPI as of Wednesday sits on 13th. The Tigers have wins over No. 10 Yale, No. 12 Penn, No. 19 Harvard and No. 20 North Carolina, with losses to No. 3 Duke, No. 7 Maryland and No. 9 Cornell.
O – Offense
Princeton goal scoring by class:
Freshmen 61
Sophomores 43
Juniors 51
Seniors 16
P – Palumbo
Chad Palumbo has gone from two goals and no assists as a freshman last year to 19 goals and 10 assists this year. No Princeton player has ever gone from two or fewer goals as a freshman to more goals as a sophomore than Palumbo has, and he 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 and then 51 more against Yale last week. Princeton averaged 44.8 shots per game for the season prior to the last two games.
R – Riding
Princeton was 19 for 21 on clears against Yale last weekend in New Haven after coming into the game 58th in Division I in clearing percentage, while Yale came in at seventh in Division I in opponent clearing percentage. Yale was 20 for 20 on clears in the game.
S – Series History
Princeton has played Yale more than any other team. In fact this will be the 111th meeting between the teams in a series that dates to Oct. 14, 1882, and Princeton leads the series 78-30-2. Princeton has won four straight against Yale; prior to that, Yale had six straight against Princeton.
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 – Unassisted
Princeton has 88 assists on 171 goals, with 51.4 percent of its goals assisted. Last year, Princeton had an assist on 62 percent of its goals.
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 – Wade
Tucker Wade has 12 goals and three assists (after having no goals in the first five games). Wade and Alexander Vardaro (in 2019) are the only Princeton freshman middies to reach double figures in goals since Tom Schreiber in 2011.
X – The X
Princeton has won 177 face-offs and lost 171 for the year. The last time Princeton was over .500 for an entire season was 2012.
Y – Yearly
The top 21 players in Princeton’s regular rotation by class: five freshmen (A Nate Kabiri, A Colin Burns, M Tucker Wade, SSDM Jackson Green, SSDM Cooper Mueller), six sophomores (M John Dunphey, M Chad Palumbo, M Quinn Krammer, D Cooper Kistler, LSM Nick Crowley, FO Andrew McMeekin), six juniors (D Michael Bath, D Colin Mulshine, M Sean Cameron, SSDM Michael Kelly, SSDM Liam Fairback, A Coulter Mackesy) and four seniors (G Michael Gianforcaro, LSM Pace Billings, SSDM Marquez White, M Tommy Barnds).
Z – Zinged
Princeton’s four Ivy League wins this year were by 10, three, five and seven goals. Its two Ivy League losses were by one and one.
