Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
No. 1 North Carolina
Fresh Off Syracuse Win, Princeton Hosts No. 1 North Carolina
February 28, 2026 | Men's Lacrosse
No. 7 PRINCETON (2-1)
vs.
No. 1 NORTH CAROLINA (5-0)
Sunday, March 1 • Noon
Sherrerd Field • Princeton, N.J.
ESPN+
Series History - Tied, 9-9
Last Meeting - Princeton defeated North Carolina 14-12 • March 2, 2025
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A – ACC/Ivy League Challenge
Welcome to the quasi-championship game of the 2026 ACC/Ivy League Challenge, as both Princeton (11-7 over Syracuse) and North Carolina (11-9 over Penn) won their games Friday night. Princeton is now 4-1 all-time in ACC/Ivy League Challenge games.
B – Big Boys
North Carolina comes into the game as the No. 1 ranked team in the media poll. The Tar Heels are Princeton’s third straight opponent that has been ranked No. 1 so far this season, after defeating both Maryland and North Carolina.
C – Chad
Chad Palumbo leads Princeton in assists with five and is eight away from becoming the 39th player in program history to reach 100 career points. Palumbo had four goals and one assist against North Carolina in last year’s game in Chapel Hill.
D – Depth
Princeton has not had a player score more than two goals in either of its first three games, but it has seven players who have had two against either Penn State, Maryland or Syracuse.
E – Exceptional
Princeton had allowed 11 goals in the first 10 minutes of its first two games combined. Princeton then shut Syracuse out for the first 24 minutes while building a 6-0 lead Friday night.
F – Face-Offs
North Carolina’s Brady Wambach is 29 for 45 facing-off with 14 groundballs against Princeton in two games. Wambach went 16 for 22 with nine groundballs and a goal against Penn Friday night. Princeton’s Andrew McMeekin, on the other hand, went 10 for 19 with a goal and assist against Syracuse Friday; it was the third time in McMeekin’s career that he had at least one goal and one assist in the same game.
G – Goalie
Ryan Croddick gave up seven goals while making 14 saves against Syracuse Friday night. It was the 10th time in 20 career starts that Croddick has saved at least 60 percent.
H – Hot
Princeton is 46-21 dating to the start of the 2022 season. Princeton is 27-10 dating to the start of the 2024 season.
I – Interesting
The team that won the 2025 meeting has lost the 2026 meeting in the first three games of Princeton’s season. Princeton defeated Penn State in 2025 but lost to the Nittany Lions this year and then defeated both Maryland and Syracuse this season after losing to both last year.
J – JG
Jackson Green, a shortstick defensive midfielder, is also a wide receiver on Princeton’s football team, where he caught 17 passes for 233 yards and three TDs. He is the first Princeton player since Rob Bordley ’70 to have at least one goal in lacrosse and one touchdown in football for Princeton.
K – Kabiri
Nate Kabiri leads all current Princeton players in career goals (68), assists (56) and points (124). Kabiri is the only Princeton player ever with at least 30 goals and at least 25 assists as a freshman and sophomore.
L – Leaders
Colin Burns is one of Princeton’s three captains, along with Cooper Kistler and Chad Palumbo. Burns is Princeton’s eighth junior captain in the last 25 years, along with George Baughan, Michael Sowers, Bear Goldstein, Tom Schreiber, John Cunningham, Jason Doneger and Ryan Boyle.
M – May
Princeton has played in each of the last four NCAA tournaments, with one Final Four and one quarterfinal appearance. Princeton has also won two of the last three Ivy League tournaments and reached the final of the other.
N – North Carolina
Princeton and UNC meet for the 19th team, with the series even at 9-9. Of the 18 games the teams have played, eight have been decided by one goal and four have been decided by two goals (including last year’s 14-12 Tiger win).
O – Offense
Princeton has no player with more than five goals but has five players with at least four: Tucker Wade with five and Peter Buonanno, Nate Kabiri, Chad Palumbo and Parker Reynolds with four each.
P – Position Switches
Chad Palumbo and Peter Buonanno changed positions from the opener against Penn State to the second game against Maryland, with Palumbo’s going from midfield to attack and Buonanno’s going from attack to midfield. Palumbo was the preseason Division I Midfielder of the Year from USA Lacrosse Magazine. Buonanno was the unanimous Ivy League Rookie of the Year last year as a middie. On the other end of the field, Jack Stahl and Cooper Kistler switched spots, as Stahl became a starting defenseman and Kistler the top LSM, flipping their roles from the opener.
Q – Quite A Stat
Matt Madalon has a theory that a team should win the overwhelming amount of time when its face-off percentage and save percentage added together exceeds 1.000. In his career as Tiger head coach, his team has had 66 games in which its FO percentage added to its save percentage is greater than 1.000; its record in those games is 59-9, including the win over Syracuse Friday night.
R – Reynolds
Freshman Parker Reynolds had the first two goals of his career last week against Maryland and then had two more against Syracuse.
S – Stahl
Junior defenseman Jack Stahl held Syracuse’s Joey Spallina to no goals and no assists Friday night after Spallina had 17 points in two previous games against Princeton. Stahl also had three caused turnovers in the game.
T – Tewaaraton
Princeton has two players on the Tewaaraton preseason watchlist: goalie Ryan Croddick and midfielder (now attackman) Chad Palumbo.
U – Unique
The 2026 season marks the 25th anniversary of Princeton’s sixth NCAA championship. Princeton’s NCAA titles have come in 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2001.
V – Vana
Jake Vana had his first career multi-goal game in the win over Maryland, including what proved to be the winning 13th goal. Vana, a sophomore, had one goal and one assist as a freshman.
W – Wade
Tucker Wade leads Princeton with five goals. Wade, a junior, became Princeton’s first sophomore midfielder to be first-team All-Ivy since Tom Schreiber in 2012.
X – Face-Off X
Andrew McMeekin is the only Princeton player with at least two seasons of at least 100 groundballs.
Y – Years
Colin Burns and Nate Kabiri are in Year 6 of playing together, between club ball, Georgetown Prep and now Princeton. Burns and Kabiri are the only two current Princeton players who have started every game of their careers.
Z – Zinger
Princeton has five players whose fathers competed at Princeton, two of whom played lacrosse. Freshman Evan Calkins is the son of Ed Calkins, a midfielder on the 1992 NCAA championship team. Sophomore Kevin Morrow is the son of David Morrow, the 1993 Division I Player of the Year. Sophomore Porter Malkiel is the son of Jon Malkiel, a member of the 1992 and 1994 NCAA title teams. Junior Cooper Mueller is the son of Kit Mueller, the 1990 and 1991 Ivy League men’s basketball Player of the Year. Gus van Metzsch is the son of Roland von Metzsch, a football offensive lineman in the early 1990s.
