Princeton University Athletics
Monday TigerBlog - Not For The Meeks
May 18, 2026 | Tiger Blog
The game was over; the trip to Charlottesville and a date at noon Saturday with Duke in the Final Four secured.Â
The Princeton men's lacrosse team was in its locker room. The celebration of the 14-10 win over Penn State in the quarterfinals was in full swing.Â
TigerBlog had to interrupt the festivities for three players who were needed in the postgame interview room. One was Jackson Green, who had three caused turnovers, two of which directly set up Princeton goals, and who yet again could not have his impact on the game measured in statistics.
Another was Tucker Wade, who had already been interviewed on TV and now was headed to answer more questions from the assembled print media. Here are two important things to know about Wade: 1) he scores a lot of goals (four in the game, 35 for the season now) and 2) he hates the spotlight. TB felt badly about having to ask him, except that he had been dominant.Â
The third was Andrew McMeekin. On a day when Princeton's "we not me" attitude was on full display, nobody had the impact on the game that McMeekin did. McMeekin had no shirt on when TB told him he was needed, which led TB to two thoughts: 1) what must it be like to walk down the beach with his arms and 2) how in the world is this guy so underrated?Â
McMeekin, Princeton's record setting face-off specialist, had just gone up against Penn State's Colby Baldwin and Reid Gills, who between them had the Nittany Lions fifth in Division I in winning percentage at the X, with better than .600. On a brutally hot day on the Delaware turf, the challenge for McMeekin was to take almost every face-off for the Tigers and not get worn down by the two-headed monster he was up against.Â
This brings TB back to McMeekin's arms, and the rest of him. If you've never seen him in anything other than a lacrosse uniform, he comes across a bit like Jaws, either the one from from the old James Bond movies or possibly the great white shark. If anyone could match up physically, it would be McMeekin.
This was from an Inside Lacrosse story of anonymous coaches' scouting reports, under "Penn State keys to win:"
"Keep Andrew McMeekin on his toes with your 1-2 punch at the stripe."
There was also this:Â
"Baldwin is a veteran, good off the ground, different than Gills in that he makes everything a scrap. The combination of them both makes it really hard on the opposing specialist."Â
So what happened? McMeekin went 19 for 26 with 12 groundballs and a goal. And it wasn't just any goal. It came in the fourth quarter, six seconds after John Dunphey had given the Tigers an 11-10 lead. McMeekin's goal made it a two-goal Tiger advantage and was the kind of backbreaking goal that can only come from a face-off guy.Â
Here are some of McMeekin's records:
* most face-off wins in Princeton history
* most groundballs in Princeton history
* ranks 1-2 on Princeton's single-season groundballs list
* has three seasons of 100 GBs; no other Tiger has more than one
* this season's team has won more face-offs than any other in Princeton history
And yet, where are his individual honors?Â
Other than being the Most Outstanding Player of the Ivy League tournament as a sophomore (something that TB chose, by the way) and a second team All-Ivy selection this year, there's not really much else. When USA Lacrosse Magazine released its All-American team, he was nowhere to be found. He didn't earn any honors a year ago, Ivy or national.Â
How is that possible?Â
Meanwhile, as far as the game yesterday, this was an all-around team effort. Every player who stepped on the field contributed. Take Caden Southworth, a freshman shortstick defensive midfielder who hasn't played much. Princeton threw him out for a huge third-quarter shift because of the heat, and he responded with big one-on-one defense and a big clear.Â
Wade had his four. Chad Palumbo had three more goals and two more assists. Behind those two, Princeton had eight different players with one goal each.Â
From the opening face-off until the end of the third quarter, neither team led by more than two. It was 6-6 at the half. It was 9-9 after three. It was 10-9 Penn State a minute into the fourth.Â
The game came exactly one year to the day when Princeton lost 19-18 to Syracuse in this round, falling short of the goal of Championship Weekend. There was zero chance this team was going to let this one get away.Â
And they didn't. They responded with 14 great minutes, scoring the final five goals of the day. Was McMeekin worn down by the heat?Â
Well, he won the FO after the Penn State goal and then the next two after that. He didn't take the one after his goal but won the next two. By the time he lost one, there was less than a minute to go in the game and Princeton was headed to Charlottesville.Â
Worn down by the heat?
Hah. Have you ever tried to face-off against a great white shark, or a giant guy with steel teeth? Â
