Palumbo's Four Goals Help Princeton Defeat No. 4 UNC To Complete Southern Sweep

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Southern Swing. Southern Sweep.
Chad Palumbo scored four goals, including the tiebreaking goal with 2:40 to go, to lead No. 8 Princeton to a 14-12 win over fourth-ranked North Carolina Sunday morning. The win came two days after Princeton took down No. 7 Duke 15-14 as the Tigers swept their trip to North Carolina as part of the ACC/Ivy event.
Princeton is now 3-1 on the young season, including an opening day win over No. 9 Penn State and a home loss to soon-to-be No. 1 Maryland.
Palumbo came into the game without a goal this season, though he was leading the team in assists with seven. He didn't score in the first 37 minutes of the game and then proceeded to score four times in the final 22 minutes. His third goal was pure beast mode, as he spun through and around and through four Tar Heel defenders, making it 12-10 Princeton with 6:51 to play.

Who put those cones there???

Are you kidding me? #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/aZcyhz1dJn
— Princeton Men's Lacrosse (@TigerLacrosse) March 2, 2025

North Carolina tied it, though, getting goals from Ty English and Owen Duffy to make it 12-12 with 4:13 left. Palumbo's game-winner game on a feed from John Dunphey and was a quick release dart from eight yards out.
UNC had two chances to get the tying goal, but Tiger goalie Ryan Croddick came up with saves against Dominic Pietramala and then English, the latter with 1:24 to play. Princeton cleared it, and Jackson Green sealed it with a goal with 12 seconds to go as the Tigers had killed off most of the remaining time.
Palumbo had an assist to go with his four goals, giving him a five-point day and eight-point weekend, while Coulter Mackesy had two goals and two assists, giving him nine points for the two games. Tucker Wade, whose father Ryan was a first-team All-American attackman at North Carolina, had a pair of goals.
Princeton also got goals from Colin Burns, Nate Kabiri (who also had two assists), Peter Buonanno (his first career goal), Carson Krammer and Sean Cameron.
Croddick finished with 11 saves, of which eight came in the second half. Michael Gianforcaro, a Princeton alum who was the Most Outstanding Player at the 2023 Ivy tournament and on the all-tournament team last year and is a grad student at UNC, made 13 saves against his former teammates.
Princeton will be home Saturday against Rutgers at 7.

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