No. 8 Princeton Takes Down No. 7 Duke 15-14 In A Thriller

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Jackson Green ran away from the Duke defense and as he did he could see the seconds tick away on the scoreboard in front of him. When it turned to all zeroes, he hurled the ball skyward in victory — hard-fought victory at that.

And so as the clock strikes midnight and February turns to March, Princeton finds itself with another major chip that may pay big dividends in May. For the second time in three games in February, Princeton had taken down a top 10 opponent, on the road at that.

Green's runout ended a thrilling men's lacrosse game, one that saw No. 8 Princeton defeat No. 7 Duke 15-14 in a game that had pretty much everything, including the 200^th point in the career of Coulter Mackesy, who had four goals and an assist on the night. Mackesy's 200^th point proved to be the game-winner, scored after a won face-off by Andrew McMeekin with 4:08 to play to make it 15-13 Tigers. Oh, and this came only five seconds after Duke had cut it to one.

Princeton's defense swarmed the Blue Devils from there until the final frantic seconds, when Andrew McAdorey scored to make it 15-14 with only 19 ticks to go. The face-off, obviously, was huge. Again McMeekin (8 for 15 on the night with six straight wins to end the game) won it, picking up the loose ball and running it behind the Duke cage. After a timeout with nine seconds left, Green split a pair of Duke defenders and ran off the remaining time.

Princeton is now 2-1 on the season, with an opening OT win at Penn State and home loss to No. 2 Maryland. Next up is a game Sunday at 11 am against fourth-ranked North Carolina, who defeated Penn 16-8 in the other Friday game of this Ivy/ACC weekend.

When the game was over, Princeton head coach Matt Madalon went through his usual tradition of awarding the game sheet to the player of the game. Who would it be? Madalon acknowledged that it could have been almost anyone, including:

* Mackesy, who also moved past Mikey MacDonald into third place all time in goals at Princeton with 135, 11 away from tying Chris Massey for second and 28 away from tying Jesse Hubbard's record of 163. Mackesy now has 135 goals and 65 assists for his career.

* Michael Bath, who had two caused turnovers and seven ground balls, all of which were huge on a night where every possession mattered.

* Koby Ginder, who won six face-offs.

* Carson Krammer, who had two goals, one that he almost shot through the net from outside and another in the fourth quarter that he tucked inside the goal from a tough angle.

Ouchie?? pic.twitter.com/aaIwf4Kr95
— Princeton Men's Lacrosse (@TigerLacrosse) March 1, 2025

* John Dunphey, who had two goals and an assist.

* Cooper Kistler, who had his first career goal.

In the end, the honor went to Green, who had a goal in transition, was big on the face-off wings and played great six-on-six defense.

Duke got five goals from Benn Johnston, who was pretty much unstoppable in his own right. Still, Princeton had an answer for everything that Duke threw its way.

In fact, other than a 1-0 lead, Duke was never ahead again. It was tied 2-2 after the first quarter, but Princeton scored the first three of the second, with goals from Dunphey, Sean Cameron and Nate Kabiri. From there, Princeton never led by more than three and would not be tied until Duke evened it 11-11 with five minutes to go in the third after back-to-back goals from Johnston and Luke Grayum.

Oh my #SCTop10

BURNS BTB GOAL FROM PALUMBO FEED pic.twitter.com/eN7UQnpfMU
— Princeton Men's Lacrosse (@TigerLacrosse) March 1, 2025

Would this one get away? Nope. Mackesy put Princeton back on top 12-11 with 2:11 left in the third, and then Colin Burns and Krammer made it 14-11 midway through the fourth, setting up the final drama of the night.

In the end, that drama went Princeton's way. Were this game played in May, it would be remembered for a long time. For Princeton, having two Top 10 wins at the end of February felt great.

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