Princeton University Athletics
Tuesday TigerBlog - Onto The Quarters
May 12, 2026 | Tiger Blog
TigerBlog will be back shortly.
He needs to update Nate Kabiri's and Chad Palumbo's NCAA tournament numbers in the Princeton men's lacrosse record book after the top-seeded Tigers defeated Marist 17-8 in the opening round Sunday on Sherrerd Field.
This might take a few minutes. In the meantime, you can pencil in this coming Sunday, when Princeton will play Penn State at Delaware in the quarterfinals. Princeton is in the quarterfinals for the second straight year and third time in five years.
At stake is a trip to the Final Four Memorial Day Weekend in Charlottesville, Va. As a subplot, Penn State defeated Princeton 13-7 back on Valentines' Day in the Tiger season opener; Princeton has won 14 of 15 since and avenged its only other loss, to Cornell, with a 19-9 win two Sundays ago in the Ivy League tournament final.
Also, while TB is busy, you can check out this groundball from Johns Hopkins' Luke Martin in overtime to set up the possession that gave the Blue Jays the winning goal in a 9-8 win over Cornell.
THE PLAY OF THE SEASON ???? pic.twitter.com/ZXoEwG7vJ3
— Johns Hopkins Men's Lacrosse (@jhumenslacrosse) May 10, 2026
That is without question the greatest single groundball pickup that TigerBlog can ever remember seeing anywhere, let alone at a moment like that, in OT in an NCAA game.
Okay, TB is back.
He starts with Palumbo.
So in the game Sunday, Palumbo put up six goals, tying the program record for goals in an NCAA game. Whose record did he tie? His own. Well, technically, this was the sixth time that a Princeton player has had six goals in an NCAA game: Palumbo twice, Chris Massey twice and Jesse Hubbard and Coulter Mackesy once each. That's elite company.
Palumbo's six goals against Marist gave him 12 in his last two NCAA games, including the six he scored against Syracuse in last year's quarterfinal loss. Those 12 goals have come on 15 shots.
As for Kabiri, the Tewaaraton Award finalist, he had three goals and five assists in the game against Marist. Only Hubbard has ever had more points in an NCAA game, when the Hall-of-Famer had six goals and four assists in the 1996 quarterfinal against Towson.
Kabiri's eight points are actually tied for second, along with ... Palumbo, who had eight points against Syracuse in that game last year, and Jon Hess, who had a three-goal, five-assist game in the 1997 NCAA final against Maryland as he earned Most Outstanding Player honors.
Beyond just the NCAA record book, Kabiri now has 99 goals in his career, while Palumbo has 98. Should they get to 100, they would be the 16th and 17th to do so at Princeton.
Kabiri, only a junior, is also on the verge of getting to 100 assists and 200 points (something only eight Tigers have ever done). He brings 95 assists along with those 99 goals into the quarterfinal game, making him already one of only two players in program history with at least 90 goals and 90 assists, along with Michael Sowers (121G, 181A).
And that's the individual stuff. At this point in May, it's all about the team. Actually, with this group, it's always about the team.
It was mid-February on Sherrerd Field when Princeton and Penn State met. The high temperature that day was 38, but after the cold spell and snow that dominated the month before, it felt downright warm.
Hot? That was Penn State's start. The Nittany Lions led 7-1 after the first quarter and won by six. Penn State defeated Army-West point 10-6 Saturday to reach the quarterfinals in its own right.
There will be all kinds of NCAA tournament experience on the field at Delaware. How much? How about every class on both teams has been to the NCAA tournament every season.
Penn State reached the Final Four a year ago. Princeton is still smarting from that 19-18 loss to Syracuse last year.
Face-off in Delaware is at noon, followed by Georgetown-Duke. The two winners will meet in one semifinal at UVa.
The other side of the bracket has Notre Dame-Johns Hopkins and UNC-Syracuse Saturday at Hofstra.
