Princeton University
Towson
Third-Seeded Princeton Hosts Towson In NCAA Opening Round
May 08, 2025 | Men's Lacrosse
NCAA TOURNAMENT OPENING ROUND
No. 3 SEED PRINCETON 12-3
vs
TOWSON (11-5)
Saturday, May 10 • 2:30 pm
Sherrerd Field at Class of 1952 Stadium • Princeton, N.J.
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Princeton all-time NCAA results
Princeton all-time NCAA tournament records
Probable Princeton starters
Career highs
Career scoring/pronunciations
A – About Princeton
Princeton is 12-3 on the season. The Tigers have beaten NCAA teams Penn State (fifth seed), Duke (seventh seed), North Carolina (eighth seed) and Harvard (unseeded) twice. Princeton’s three losses have come against top-seeded Cornell (twice) and second-seeded Maryland. Princeton had its eight-game winning streak snapped by Cornell in the Ivy tournament final this past Sunday.
B – Bracket
Princeton is the No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, hosting unseeded Towson. The winner of this game will advance to the quarterfinals at Hofstra next Saturday to take on the winner of No. 6 Syracuse and Harvard.
C – Chad
Chad Palumbo has 36 points this season (21G, 15A) after having 37 last year (26G, 11A). The only other Princeton middies this century who have had back-to-back seasons with at least 36 points are Austin Sims, Tom Schreiber (three times) and Josh Sims. Palumbo has 12G, 3A in five career postseason games (four Ivy tournament, one NCAA tournament).
D – Defense
Prior to the Ivy League final, Princeton had held five straight opponents and six of its last seven to eight goals or fewer. Princeton leads the Ivy League in scoring defense (10.33 goals per game).
E – Extra man
Princeton is 17 for 30 (.567) 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 – For The Record
Coulter Mackesy has scored at least one goal in 33 straight games and 55 of his last 55. He is also a Tewaaraton Award finalist, was the No. 4 pick in the PLL draft and was a unanimous first-team All-Ivy League selection. He enters the NCAA tournament tied with Jesse Hubbard for the Princeton career record for goals with 163.
Career goals at Princeton
1. Jesse Hubbard (1995-98)/Coulter Mackesy (2022-present) 163
Career points at Princeton
1. Michael Sowers (2017-20) 302
2. Kevin Lowe (1991-94) 247
3. Coulter Mackesy (2022-present) 240
G – Goalie
Princeton’s Ryan Croddick was a first-team All-Ivy League selection and a three-time Ivy Defensive Player of the Week. He is currently third in Division I in saves per game (14.40) and fifth in Division I in save percentage (.584). Croddick also has three assists, tying for the most points by a Princeton goalie in a season since Bill Cronin in 1973.
H – Head Coach
Matt Madalon is 7-5 in 12 postseason games at Princeton (seven Ivy tournament, five NCAA tournament). He has an overall record of 74-40 (.652) 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 47-20 since.
I – Ivy League
The Ivy League has produced three of the five Tewaaraton Award finalists: Princeton’s Coulter Mackesy, Cornell’s CJ Kirst and Harvard’s Sam King (along with Army’s Jackson Eicher and Notre Dame’s Chris Kavanagh). Mackesy is Princeton’s fifth finalist, along with Trevor Tierney, Ryan Boyle, Tom Schreiber (twice) and Michael Sowers.
J – Just Saying
Hunter Spiess has a goal, seven caused turnovers and 26 ground balls in the last seven games, starting the last six. Prior to that, he had no goals, no caused turnovers and two ground balls for the first seven games.
K – Kabiri
Nate Kabiri has 58G and 49A in his first two seasons. With one more assist, he’d join Michael Sowers as the only two Princeton players ever with at least 50G and 50A by the end of sophomore year. Kabiri is the sixth Princeton sophomore to reach 100 career points, along with Kevin Lowe (Hall of Fame), Jesse Hubbard (Hall of Fame), Ryan Boyle (Hall of Fame), Michael Sowers (will be in the Hall of Fame) and teammate Coulter Mackesy.
L – Leaders
Princeton has two captains for the 2025 season — Michael Bath and Coulter Mackesy.
M – Mueller
First-team All-Ivy SSDM Cooper Mueller has four goals, one assist, 11 caused turnovers and 34 ground balls. The only Princeton shortsticks to reach those numbers are Zach Currier (three times) and Jake Stevens. Mueller’s father Kit was a two-time Ivy League men’s basketball Player of the Year (1990, 1991).
N – NCAA Tournament
Princeton has reached the NCAA tournament for the 24th time, including each of the last four seasons. In all, Princeton has won six NCAA championships, played in eight finals and 11 Final Fours and has an all-time record of 32-17.
O – Offensive Midfielders
Princeton’s offensive midfielders are a combined 36 for 95 shooting in the last four games. Princeton has gotten 101 goals from its offensive midfielders, with 65 in the first 11 games (5.9 per game) and 36 in the last four (9.0) per game).
P – Penalties
When Colin Mulshine was called for a hold in the Ivy League final against Cornell, it ended a two-year streak without a penalty and was only the second in his career (the other was also a hold), this despite the fact that he is a four-year starter who routinely guards the other team’s best attackman. As for the team, Princeton has committed only 23 penalties in 15 games, and only five of those 15 have been committed by longsticks.
Q – Quite A Stat
Jesse Hubbard, Chris Massey and Jon Hess combined for 127 points in 11 NCAA games from 1995-98. All three had at least 40 points, and only one other Princeton player (Ryan Boyle, 37) had more than 28.
R – Roommates
Towson coach Shawn Nadalen was a Princeton assistant coach from 2002-04. During that time, his roommate was current Princeton Ford Family Director of Athletics John Mack, who was beginning his career in athletic administration then.
S – Series History
Princeton and Towson meet for the fourth time, and all four meetings will have come in the NCAA tournament. Towson defeated Princeton 14-13 in the 1991 quarterfinals, and Princeton then won 22-6 in the 1996 quarterfinals and 12-11 in the 2001 semifinals.
T – Turnovers
Michael Bath has 64 career caused turnovers. Chad Wiedmaier holds the Princeton record with 83, followed by George Baughan with 67. Bath has seven games this season with multiple caused turnovers.
U – USA Lacrosse All-Americans
Princeton had seven players named USA Lacrosse All-Americans: Coulter Mackesy (first-team), Colin Mulshine (second-team), SSDM Cooper Mueller (third-team), offensive midfielder Chad Palumbo (third-team), goalie Ryan Croddick (HM), SSDM Jackson Green (HM), and offensive midfielder Tucker Wade (HM).
V – Very Impressive
Princeton is second in Division I in fewest turnovers per game (13.00). Towson is fifth in Division I in ground balls per game (36.0). Towson’s Mikey Weisshaar is eighth in Divisiln I in goals per game (3.07).
W – Wade
Tucker Wade is Princeton’s first sophomore midfielder to be first-team All-Ivy since Tom Schreiber in 2012. Wade has nine multi-goal games this season and had a streak of five straight end when he had one goal and two assists in the Ivy League final against Cornell.
X – Face-off X
Andrew McMeekin was 39 for 105 (.371) with 22 ground balls for the first six games. In the last nine, he is 111 for 198 (.561) with 70 ground balls in his last eight games. McMeekin is a three-time Ivy League all-tournament team selection and was the 2024 Ivy tournament Most Outstanding Player.
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 had five first-team All-Ivy League selections, its highest total since the 2001 NCAA championship team also had five. Coulter Mackesy was a unanimous choice on attack, and Colin Mulshine (D) was first-team for the second straight year. Tucker Wade (M), Ryan Croddick (G) and Cooper Mueller (SSDM) were all first-time first-team choices. Peter Buonanno was the unanimous Ivy League Rookie of the Year, Princeton’s first recipient of the award since 2013. Nate Kabiri (A), Chad Palumbo (M) and Michael Bath (D) were second-team choices, and Jackson Green (SSDM) was an honorable mention pick. Sean Cameron (M) was the team’s Academic All-Ivy League selection, and Princeton’s coaching staff of Matt Madalon, Jeremy Hirsch, Jim Mitchell and Casey Dowd — along with Director of Operations Drew Cottrell — were the co-Coaching Staff of the Year, along with Dartmouth’s.
