Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Maryland
Princeton Opens NCAA Tournament At Seventh-Seeded Maryland
May 09, 2024 | Men's Lacrosse
PRINCETON (11-4, unseeded)
at
MARYLAND (8-5, No. 7 seed)
NCAA Tournament
Saturday, May 11 • 7:30 pm
SECU Stadium • College Park, Md.
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A – At Stake
Princeton, unseeded, and Maryland, the seventh seed, meet in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. The winner of this game will advance to play the winner of Utah-Duke in the quarterfinals at Hofstra on May 18.
B – Balanced
Princeton has gotten 95 goals from its offensive midfielders and 93 goals from its attackmen this season.
C – Coulter
Junior Coulter Mackesy, a Tewaaraton nominee for the second straight year, has scored more goals than any other Princeton player through his junior year (122). He, Michael Sowers and Mikey MacDonald are the only three players in Princeton history with at least 120 goals and at least 60 assists. Here is where Mackesy currently stands on Princeton’s career lists:
Career points
7. Tom Schreiber (2011-14) 200
8. Chris Massey (1995-98) 192
9. Coulter Mackesy (2022- present)/Dave Heubeck (1977-80) 182
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. Coulter Mackesy (2022-present) 122
D – Defense
Princeton is the No. 13 team in Division I and first in the Ivy League in scoring defense at 10.07 goals per game. Princeton is also 13th in Division I caused turnovers per game, at 9.40.
E – Every One
All nine Princeton alums who are playing at other schools have made this year’s NCAA tournament. The nine are: Beau Pederson, Christian Ronda and Cathal Roberts at Michigan, Sam English and Jake Stevens at Syracuse, Alex Slusher and Griffin Rakower at Duke, Jacob Stoebner at Johns Hopkins and Alexander Vardaro at Georgetown. Pederson, Stevens and Vardaro were all PLL draft choices this week.
F – Freshman Scoring
Princeton’s freshman class has combined for 70 goals (29 by Nate Kabiri, 25 by Colin Burns, 16 by Tucker Wade); only North Carolina, with 73, has had more freshman goals this season in Division I. Princeton’s 65 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 10.07, has a .598 save percentage in the last four games. Gianforcaro also scored a goal against Penn in the regular season game, making him the first Tiger goalie to score since Alex Hewit in 2008. Gianforcaro made 20 saves against Maryland in the first game between the teams this season.
H – Half And Half
Princeton was tied with Yale at the half and up one at the half against Penn in last weekend’s Ivy tournament. Princeton then outscored the two by a combined 19-9 in the second half.
I – In Case It Comes To That
Princeton is 6-2 all-time in NCAA tournament games that have gone to overtime, including 4-0 in NCAA championship games. The six OT goals were scored by Andy Moe (1992 final vs. Syracuse, second OT), Scott Conklin (1994 quarterfinals vs. Hopkins), Kevin Lowe (1994 final vs. Virginia), Jesse Hubbard (1996 NCAA final vs. Virginia), B.J. Parger (2001 final vs. Syracuse) and Peter Trombino (2004 quarterfinal vs. Maryland). The two losses in NCAA overtime games were to Towson in the 1991 quarterfinals (3 OT) and Georgetown in the 2006 opening round.
J – Jumping Out
Princeton and Maryland have played four games in the last three seasons (one each in the regular season and in the 2022 NCAA semifinals). Of the 240 minutes of those four games, Princeton has never led and Maryland has had the lead for 232 minutes and 17 seconds. Maryland has outscored Princeton by a combined 15-5 in the first quarters of those four games.
K – Kabiri
Nate Kabiri is second on the team in goals (29) and leads the team in assists (25). Through 10 games, Kabiri had 27 goals and nine assists, and he now has two goals and 16 assists in the last five. Here is where he stands on Princeton’s freshman scoring 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. Nate Kabiri, 2024, 54 (29G, 25A)
4. Ryan Boyle, 2001, 53 (16G, 37A)
5. Coulter Mackesy, 2022, 43 (28G, 15A)
L – Last Time
Maryland defeated Princeton 13-7 back on Feb. 24 at SECU Stadium. Maryland scored two minutes into the game and built a lead of 6-1 after 18 minutes. Princeton was led by Nate Kabiri, who scored four goals. The Tigers only scored consecutive goals once in the game, and those two were separated by halftime. Maryland won 21 of 24 face-offs, and Eric Spanos led the Terps with four goals and one assist. Maryland outshot Princeton 45-29 in that game; Princeton has only been outshot three times in 15 games, and the other two were by an average of four shots (Duke, Brown).
M – Meeks
Andrew McMeekin, who was the Most Outstanding Player of the Ivy League tournament, has a .565 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 also has 130 ground balls, which is one off the school single-season record:
1. Greg Waller (1991) 131
2. Andrew McMeekin (2024)/Zach Currier (2017) 130
The sophomore also has eight goals this season, the most by any Division I FOGO in 2024. 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) 8 goals
N – NCAA Tournament History
Princeton is making its third-straight appearance in the NCAA tournament, having reached the Final Four in 2022 by defeating Boston University and Yale before falling to Maryland and then falling to Penn State 13-12 in the first round last year (Coulter Mackesy tied the school NCAA tournament record with six goals in that game, after Jesse Hubbard did it twice and Chris Massey did it once). The only time Princeton has had a longer streak was when the team made the NCAA tournament every year from 1990-2004. Princeton is making its 23rd appearance in the NCAA tournament and has a record of 32-16, with six NCAA championships. Princeton has also been the runner-up twice and reached the Final Four 11 times in all. The Tigers have played nine NCAA games at what is now known as SECU Stadium.
O – Offense
Princeton goal scoring by class:
Freshmen 70
Sophomores 53
Juniors 60
Seniors 20
P – Penalties
Maryland and Princeton are two of the three least-penalized teams in Division I. Maryland’s opponents have had 17 extra-man opportunities all season, while Princeton’s have had 25. UMass-Lowell is second, having allowed 19 EMOs all year.
Q – Quotable
“We’re going to wake up tomorrow morning and realize we’re one of only 17 teams still playing Division I men’s lacrosse.” — Princeton head coach Matt Madalon after the Selection Show.
R – Recently
Princeton has won seven of its last eight games (with only a 13-12 loss on April 13), after starting the season 4-3. Princeton has won four straight, with an average margin of victory of 5.75 goals in those four games.
S – Series History
Maryland leads the all-time series 35-12-1, including the 13-7 win earlier this year. The teams have played against each other eight times in the NCAA tournament, and Princeton leads those games 5-3, including wins in both the 1997 and 1998 finals.
T – Three For Three
Colin Burns 25 goals for the year, joining Mackesy (39) and Kabiri (29) with at least 25. Since the Hess-Hubbard-Massey unit did so three times (1996-98), only once before this year has Princeton had three attackmen all reach 25 goals (Mackesy, Slusher, Brown in 2022).
U – USA Lacrosse All-Americans
Princeton had five players earn USA Lacrosse All-American honors: Michael Gianforcaro (third-team) and honorable mention selections Coulter Mackesy, Colin Mulshine, Chad Palumbo and Marquez White. Maryland had three selections: Ajax Zappitello (first-team) and HMs Eric Spanos and Luke Wierman.
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 – Wiped Out
Colin Mulshine, a first-team All-Ivy League defenseman, covered Yale’s Matt Brandau and Penn’s Tynan Walsh in the Ivy tournament and held them to one goal each, earning All-Tournament honors. Mulshine covered the three first-team All-Ivy League attackmen this season (Brandau, Cornell’s C.J. Kirst, Harvard’s Sam King) and held them to five goals in those three games.
X – The X
Luke Wierman is 65 for 94 with 42 ground balls against Princeton in four career games, including 20 for 23 with 13 ground balls in the game earlier this season. Andrew McMeekin was 1 for 16 without a ground ball in that game, but he is 195 for 331 (.589), with 130 ground balls, eight goals, two assists and nine caused turnovers in the other 14. McMeekin, the Most Outstanding Player at the Ivy League tournament, has won 196 face-offs for the season. The school record is 207 (Greg Waller, 1990), and the most any player has had since is 202, which current Tiger Tyler Sandoval won in 2022, the year before he tore his ACL. As a team, Princeton has won 215 face-offs and lost 194; Princeton has not been over .500 for a full season since 2012.
Y – Youth Movement
Of the top 21 players in Princeton’s regular rotation, 11 are either freshmen or sophomores and 10 are juniors or seniors. The breakdown 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 – Zapped
Michael Bath leads the Ivy League with 1.47 caused turnovers per game. He also has 23 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 – Michael Bath (2024)
23 – George Baughan (2019)
22 – Long Ellis (2010)
21 – Zach Currier (2017)
20 – George Baughan (2022)
