Princeton University
Yale
No. 2 Princeton Hosts Yale On Senior Day
April 24, 2025 | Men's Lacrosse
No. 2 PRINCETON 10-2, 4-1 Ivy League)
vs.
YALE (5-6, 3-2 Ivy League)
Saturday, April 26 • noon
Sherrerd Field • Princeton, N.J.
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Feature Story: Coulter Mackesy and McKenzie Blake, The Reluctant Record Chasers
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Probable Princeton starters
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A – Again
Princeton and Yale meet for the 112th time, and the Tigers lead the series 79-30-2. The only more played rivalries among current Division I teams are Cornell-Hobart (142 meetings) and Johns Hopkins-Maryland (128 after last weekend). Princeton has beaten Yale five straight times. Prior to that, Yale had beaten Princeton five straight times.
B – Before And After
Hunter Spiess has a goal, three caused turnovers and 18 ground balls in the last four games, starting the last three. Prior to that, he had no goals, no caused turnovers and two ground balls for the season ... Freshman Peter Buonanno has eight goals and five assists in the last six games after having one goal and one assist in the first six ... Sophomore midfielder Tucker Wade has 33 career goals. Of those 33, he has had five in the first five games of his two seasons (0.5 per game) and 28 from Game 6 forward (1.2 per game) ... Colin Burns has 12 goals in the last five games after having nine in the first seven.
C – Coulter
Coulter Mackesy (a Tewaaraton Award top 25 nominee for the third straight season) is second all-time in goals scored at Princeton and third all-time in points in a career.
Career goals at Princeton
1. Jesse Hubbard (1995-98) 163
2. Coulter Mackesy (2022-present) 158
Career points at Princeton
1. Michael Sowers (2017-20) 302
2. Kevin Lowe (1991-94) 247
3. Coulter Mackesy (2022-present) 234
D – Defense
Princeton allowed 12.25 goals per game in its first four games and has allowed 8.9 goals per game in the last eight. Overall Princeton allows 10.0 goals per game, which leads the Ivy League.
E – Extra man
Princeton is 13 for 21 (.619) on extra-man opportunities, which leads Division I. The last time Princeton was over .500 for a full season was a .514 mark in 2014. Yale leads the Ivy League in man-down defense.
F – First Time Since
Princeton is 10-2 to start a season for the first time since 2009 ... Princeton has allowed four of its last five opponents to eight goals or fewer for the first time since 2012 ... Princeton rallied from three goals down at halftime to defeat Penn last Saturday at Franklin Field; the last time Princeton came from three goals or more down at the half to win a game was against Dartmouth in 2016 ... Ryan Croddick has three assists, tying for the most points by a Princeton goalie in a season since Bill Cronin in 1973.
G – Goalie
Princeton’s Ryan Croddick leads the Ivy League and is seventh in Division I in save percentage (.592). The last Princeton goalie to have a better save percentage for a full season was Tyler Fiorito (.595 in 2012, .615 in 2011). Croddick is the only Division I goalie with at least 22 saves in two different games this season.
H – Head Coach
Matt Madalon has as record of 72-39 (.649) at Princeton since taking over with five games to go in the 2016 season. In the last 55 years, only Bill Tierney (238-86, .735) has won more games and had a higher winning percentage as Princeton head men’s lacrosse coach than Madalon. In fact, you have to go back to Dick Colman (also a Hall of Fame football coach) from 1946-49 to find a coach who has a higher winning percentage than Madalon (minimum two years as head coach). Madalon was 27-20 in his first 47 games as Princeton head coach. He is 45-19 in the 64 since.
I – Ivy League Tournament
Princeton, Yale and Harvard will all travel to Cornell to join the host Big Red in next weekend’s Ivy League tournament. Princeton has won the last two ILTs.
J – Just The Facts
Cornell will be the host team and the No. 1 seed in the Ivy League tournament. Princeton would be the No. 2 seed with a win over Yale or a one-goal loss to Yale. Princeton would be the No. 3 seed with a two-goal loss to Yale and would be the No. 4 seed with a loss to Yale by three or more goals. A Princeton win over Yale and a Dartmouth win over Cornell would leave the Tigers and Big Red as Ivy co-champions.
K – Kabiri
Nate Kabiri, a sophomore, is second among active Princeton players in career points with 97 (51G, 46A) in 28 career games (all starts). The only Princeton players to reach 100 career points before the end of their sophomore year are Michael Sowers, Kevin Lowe, Jesse Hubbard, Ryan Boyle and Coulter Mackesy.
L – Leaders
Princeton has two captains for the 2025 season — Michael Bath and Coulter Mackesy.
M – Mueller
Cooper Mueller has four goals, one assist, 10 caused turnovers and 28 ground balls. The only Princeton shortstick to reach those numbers without taking at least one face-off is Jake Stevens (5G, 11CT, 60GB in 2019). Mueller’s father Kit was a two-time Ivy League men’s basketball Player of the Year (1990, 1991).
N – NCAA
Princeton has reached the NCAA tournament each of the last three seasons.
O – Offense
Princeton’s offensive midfielders shot a combined 9 for 20 against Penn last week. Against Brown one week earlier, Princeton’s starters on attack shot a combined 9 for 21. During one four-game stretch this season, Princeton’s offensive midfielders shot 8 for 23 against Harvard, followed that by going 1 for 24 against Dartmouth, followed that with another 8 for 23 performance against Lehigh and then followed that with 2 for 26 shooting against Vermont. The O middies are a combined 17 for 49 in the last two games.
P – Penalty Free Colin Mulshine has not committed a penalty in 32 straight games, despite usually guarding the other team’s top attackman. For his career, Mulshine has played in 59 career games, with 55 career starts, and has committed only one penalty (a 30-second hold) in 2023 against Harvard.
Q – Quite A Stat
Princeton has committed 17 penalties this season, tied with Maryland for the fewest in Division I. Of the 17 penalties, there have been 14 committed by shortsticks and three committed by longsticks. Princeton committed 63 penalties in 2022, 62 in 2023, 26 last year and now 17 through 12 games this year.
R – RPI
Princeton is ranked No. 1 in the NCAA RPI. Going by RPI, Princeton has wins over No. 4 Penn State, No. 6 North Carolina, No. 7 Duke, No. 10 Harvard and No. 20 Rutgers, with losses to No. 2 Maryland and No. 3 Cornell. Yale’s RPI is No. 19. Dartmouth, whom Princeton has also defeated, is No. 21.
S – Senior Day
Princeton will honor its 11 seniors prior to the game: Billy Barnds, Michael Bath, Sean Cameron, Liam Fairback, Koby Ginder, Michael Kelly, Coulter Mackesy, Colin Mulshine, McKnight Pederson, Jack Ringhofer and Braedon Saris.
T – Turnovers
Michael Bath has 60 career caused turnovers. Chad Wiedmaier holds the Princeton record with 83, followed by George Baughan with 67.
U – Underclassmen
Princeton starts two sophomores on attack (Colin Burns, Nate Kabiri), one sophomore at midfield (Tucker Wade) and one sophomore on defense (Jack Stahl), with three sophomores at shortstick defensive midfield (Cooper Mueller, Jackson Green, Owen Fischer). Princeton also has a sophomore on the second midfield (Carson Krammer) and another defenseman who is getting regular playing time (Hunter Spiess). That’s a total of nine sophomores who make major contributions from a class that was the No. 1 rated incoming class by Inside Lacrosse a year ago.
V – Very Deep
Princeton has been regularly playing six shortstick defensive midfielders (Liam Fairback, Owen Fischer, Jackson Green, Michael Kelly, Quinn Krammer, Cooper Mueller) and eight poles (Michael Bath, Nick Crowley, Finn Fox, Zach Friedman, Cooper Kistler, Colin Mulshine, Hunter Spiess, Jack Stahl)
W – Wade
Tucker Wade has scored the first goal in four of Princeton’s 12 games.
X – Face-off X
Andrew McMeekin is 68 for 123 (.553) with 40 ground balls in his last six games after being 39 for 105 (.371) with 22 ground balls for the first six games. McMeekin was the Most Outstanding Player at the 2024 Ivy League tournament and a 2023 Ivy League all-tournament team selection.
Y – Year 6
Colin Burns and Nate Kabiri are in their sixth year playing together on attack. They’re now in Year 2 at Princeton after playing together for two years at Georgetown Prep and four years as club teammates.
Z – Zinger
Princeton leads the Ivy League and is third in Division I in fewest turnovers per game (13.50).