Croddick Saves Princeton's 13-12 Win Over No. 2 Maryland

Saturday, February 21

College Park, Md.

12:00 PM

Princeton University

1-1, 0-0

No. 2 Maryland

1-2, 0-0

Princeton

Maryland

Ryan Croddick makes a save with two seconds left to preserve Princeton's 13-12 win over Maryland.

Photo by: Nick Ierardi

Croddick Saves Princeton's 13-12 Win Over No. 2 Maryland

February 21, 2026 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

With six minutes to go, the Princeton men's lacrosse team had a four-goal lead at No. 2 Maryland. With six seconds to go, well, let's just say that another major frustration at the hands of the Terrapins was about to unfold.

Until, that is, Ryan Croddick made one of the greatest clutch saves you'll ever see. Had it been in May instead of February, it would have gone down as one of the best ever.

Croddick's ridiculous save in the final seconds ended a wild 13-12 Princeton win at SECU Stadium, ending a nine-game losing streak to the Terps for the Tigers, whose last win over Maryland came in the 2004 NCAA quarterfinals. More importantly, it came at a time when the current team desperately needed it after a disappointing 13-7 loss to Penn State a week earlier in the season opener and with an upcoming home weekend against Syracuse and North Carolina on the horizon.

CRODDICK COMES UP HUGE IN THE FINAL MOMENTS@BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/RUzvtXQ2hD
— Princeton Men's Lacrosse (@TigerLacrosse) February 21, 2026

Of those nine straight Maryland wins, six had come since the start of the 2022 season, including two in the NCAA tournament. At no point in any of those six games had Princeton had the lead in the second half, and in five of them Princeton never had the lead at all.

This one, had it gotten away, would have been quite possibly the most crushing. Princeton led 13-9 when Jake Vana scored his second of the day, with just under seven minutes left. In the bank? Not against this opponent.

Maryland chipped away, getting two from Eric Spanos and then one from Chris Lyons with 1:27 to go, cutting it to 13-12. Andrew McMeekin won the face-off, and the Tigers took exactly a minute off the clock before turning it over, giving Maryland a chance to tie it. After two replay reviews to check the time and one Maryland shot that would have been Princeton's ball had it not hit one of the officials and stayed in bounds, Maryland had a restart with nine seconds on the clock.

Matt Higgins took the ball behind the cage and fed it in front to Elijah Stobaugh, who got a shot off with two seconds to go. The ball was headed into the far side of the net, which would have meant the game was headed into overtime — until Croddick stabbed it and then controlled it, pouncing on the loose ball as time expired.

For Princeton, the sting of the loss to Penn State — which dropped the Tigers nine spots in the polls to 12^th — lingered all week. This time, Princeton came out on fire, as Croddick made a save on the first possession and outletted it to Cooper Mueller, who raced the 50 yards and then put the Tigers up 1-0. Maryland would lead 4-2 before Princeton tied it at 4-4 a little past the midway point of the first quarter.

Freshman Parker Reynolds scored his first career goal to make it 5-4 Tigers, and Peter Buonanno put Princeton back up 6-5 after Maryland had tied it. The Tigers would lead the rest of the way.

Reynolds, Vana, Buonanno, Chad Palumbo and Colin Burns had two goals each for Princeton. The