Princeton University Athletics
Photo by: Camryn Ley
Princeton Announces 2026 Men's Lacrosse Schedule
November 18, 2025 | Men's Lacrosse
PRINCETON 2026 MEN'S LACROSSE SCHEDULE
The Princeton men's lacrosse team will play three of last year's Final Four teams this coming season — and that's in the month of February alone. Beyond that will be the fourth Final Four team, another NCAA tournament team and the rest of the loaded Ivy League among its 13 game regular season.
"We have the same approach to scheduling that we always have," Princeton head coach Matt Madalon says. "We want to play the best teams we can and give ourselves two ways to get into the NCAA tournament, through the automatic bid or an at-large bid."
Princeton has made it to the last four NCAA tournaments under Madalon, with two of those appearances via each method. The 2026 schedule certainly will offer the same kind of week-in, week-out challenges that the previous ones have.
The season begins at home on Feb. 14 against Penn State, a Final Four team in 2025. After that will be a trip to Maryland, last year's NCAA runner-up, before returning home to take on Syracuse, another semifinalist. Syracuse replaces Duke on the schedule for the third edition of the ACC/Ivy crossover weekend, with this year's games at Princeton and Penn, with North Carolina the fourth team.Â
The annual matchup for the Meistrell Cup will see Princeton host Rutgers on March 7, and the Ivy League season will begin at Yale March 14. Cornell, the defending NCAA champion who beat Princeton in the Ivy tournament final last year, comes to Sherrerd Field on March 21.Â
Princeton is then at Brown, home against Lehigh for the only mid-week game and at Vermont in an eight-day span. The regular season ends at home against Penn, at 2025Â NCAA qualifier Harvard and then home against Darmouth.
The Princeton men's lacrosse team will play three of last year's Final Four teams this coming season — and that's in the month of February alone. Beyond that will be the fourth Final Four team, another NCAA tournament team and the rest of the loaded Ivy League among its 13 game regular season.
"We have the same approach to scheduling that we always have," Princeton head coach Matt Madalon says. "We want to play the best teams we can and give ourselves two ways to get into the NCAA tournament, through the automatic bid or an at-large bid."
Princeton has made it to the last four NCAA tournaments under Madalon, with two of those appearances via each method. The 2026 schedule certainly will offer the same kind of week-in, week-out challenges that the previous ones have.
Princeton is playing 12 of the 13 teams it did during last year's regular season. The newcomer is Syracuse, the team that knocked Princeton out 19-18 in an epic NCAA quarterfinal game last spring.ÂKABIRI STINGS THE CORNER TO BEAT THE SHOT CLOCK AND GET THE TIGERS TO 13. pic.twitter.com/29OU2L8gFV
— Princeton Men's Lacrosse (@TigerLacrosse) May 10, 2025
The season begins at home on Feb. 14 against Penn State, a Final Four team in 2025. After that will be a trip to Maryland, last year's NCAA runner-up, before returning home to take on Syracuse, another semifinalist. Syracuse replaces Duke on the schedule for the third edition of the ACC/Ivy crossover weekend, with this year's games at Princeton and Penn, with North Carolina the fourth team.Â
The annual matchup for the Meistrell Cup will see Princeton host Rutgers on March 7, and the Ivy League season will begin at Yale March 14. Cornell, the defending NCAA champion who beat Princeton in the Ivy tournament final last year, comes to Sherrerd Field on March 21.Â
Princeton is then at Brown, home against Lehigh for the only mid-week game and at Vermont in an eight-day span. The regular season ends at home against Penn, at 2025Â NCAA qualifier Harvard and then home against Darmouth.
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