Burns OT Goal, Croddick's Record-Setting Day Lead No. 5 Princeton Past No. 10 Penn State 11-10

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Matt Madalon wanted to challenge his team from Day 1 of the 2025 season, and he certainly got his wish in the opener. His Princeton men's lacrosse team found itself inside Holuba Hall Saturday afternoon to take on Penn State, making this the first time since 2005 that the Tigers started their season against a current Big 10 or ACC opponent.

On top of that, there wasn't much Madalon could say when a three-goal lead became a tie in the fourth quarter. All he could do was sit back and see how his team would respond.

The answer is: Perfectly.

Colin Burns' goal with 2:09 to go in the first overtime gave Princeton a thrilling 11-10 win over Penn State. The win came as the Tigers started a five-game pre-Ivy League run that continues this coming Saturday at home against Maryland, at Duke and North Carolina and then home against Rutgers.

Burns provided the game-winner, which was his fourth of the day. It also marked the second straight season opener in which Burns scored four times.

Coulter Mackesy scored five times for the Tigers, moving into fourth place all-time in goals at Princeton with 128, trailing only Mike MacDonald (132), Chris Massey (146) and ultimately Jesse Hubbard (163).

This day, though, was as much about some new faces in major roles, most notably junior goalie Ryan Croddick, who made 21 saves in his first career start. In fact, Croddick, who came into the game with five career saves in two seasons as a backup, set the Princeton record for most saves by a goalie in his first start.

In addition to the quantity of saves, Croddick also robbed Penn State time and again from in close. On top of all that, he also had an assist on a long pass across midfield to shortstick defensive midfielder Jackson Green, who scored his first career goal on the play.

Green was fantastic all day, leading Princeton's transition game and cashing in on his first goal as Princeton seemed to take control of the game in the first half, never trailing and leading by two or three for most of the time. Green's biggest play, though, came in the overtime, when he caused a turnover that led to a Jack Stahl ground ball and clear. After a timeout, Burns came from around the net and ended things.

Penn State's Matt Traynor scored three fourth quarter goals, including one with six seconds after Mackesy had scored with 9:49 to go to put Princeton up 10-8. Traynor's last goal, his fifth of the day, came with 5:06 to play, tying it at 10-10, marking the first tie since 0-0.

Croddick made 13 of his saves in the second half, including six in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore Carson Krammer, who missed all of last year with an injury, had his first career goal.

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