Dunphey, Palumbo Explode As No. 7 Princeton Rolls Past Brown 20-14

Saturday, March 28

Providence, R.I.

12:00 PM

Princeton University

6-2, 2-1

Brown

5-4, 0-2

Princeton

Brown

Photo by: Camryn Ley

Dunphey, Palumbo Explode As No. 7 Princeton Rolls Past Brown 20-14

March 28, 2026 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

Tucker Wade did what he's done so often, which is score the first goal of a Princeton men's lacrosse game, this time 37 seconds into the first quarter. After that, he turned the scoring over to his teammates John Dunphey and Chad Palumbo.

Princeton couldn't have been in better hands.

Together, those two senior midfielders combined for 10 goals and four assists in leading the seventh-ranked Tigers to a wild 20-14 win at Brown Saturday afternoon. The win improved Princeton to 6-2 and 2-1 in the Ivy League, while Brown fell to 5-4, 0-2.

Each player scored five goals, which for Dunphey was a career high and for Palumbo was one off of his, which came a year ago in the NCAA quarterfinals against Syracuse. Dunphey actually had career highs in goals, assists (three) and points (eight), and his five goals were 1) one off his 2025 season total, 2) one off his 2026 total for the first seven games and 3) accomplished on only five shots. For his part, Palumbo scored all five of his in the first half.

DUNPHEY TO GET THE SECOND HALF PARTY STARTED pic.twitter.com/9G2hKE704m
— Princeton Men's Lacrosse (@TigerLacrosse) March 28, 2026

The offensive explosion included a Colin Burns goal that gave the junior 100 career points, making him the 40^th Princeton player to reach that milestone.

Princeton fell behind 3-2 early before ripping off six straight to take command. Of those six goals, three came from Palumbo, two assisted by Dunphey, and one more came from Dunphey himself.

It would be an 11-5 Tiger lead and the half, and that grew to 18-9 at the end of the third quarter. The teams combined for 94 shots, and Tiger goalie Ryan Croddick made 18 saves.

Nate Kabiri had two goals and two assists, while Wade had two goals and one assist. Andrew McMeekin was 15 of 27 face-offs and had a goal and eight groundballs. Defenseman Hunter Spiess had a remarkable nine groundballs.

Princeton has a quick turnaround before hosting Lehigh Tuesday night (7).