No. 17 men's lacrosse (3–4 overall, 1–1 Ivy League) will continue their Ivy League schedule against the Brown Bears (4–4, 0–1) at home, at Sherrerd Field, this Saturday, April 1.
Both teams are looking to build on recent success. The Tigers are coming off their first Ivy League win of the season against the No. 12 Yale Bulldogs (3–3, 0–2). Before pulling off their 23–10 rout of the Bulldogs this last Saturday, Princeton had suffered back-to-back overtime losses to both Rutgers (7–2, 0–1 Big Ten) and Penn (3–4, 1–1).
Meanwhile, the Bears are coming off a major upset against the No. 6 Villanova Wildcats (7–2, 0–0 Big East), which followed two consecutive one-point losses for the Bears to Harvard in overtime and UMass Amherst. A win against Brown this Saturday would most likely catapult Princeton into a tie for second place in the Ivy League and give the Tigers solid positioning for a place in the Ivy League tournament.
The last time the Tigers faced off with the Bears was last year in Providence when Princeton dominated 17–9, with help from several current players, including goals from senior midfielder Alexander Vardaro and sophomore attacker Coulter Mackesy.
Assistant Sports Editor Diego Uribe ’26 and contributor Harrison Blank ’26 made their predictions for this weekend’s contest.
Men’s Lacrosse vs. Brown
Princeton 15, Brown 8 - Diego Uribe, Assistant Sports Editor
Both the Tigers and the Bears are coming off of their biggest wins of the season: the Tigers with a blowout win over No. 12 Yale, and the Bears with a win over No. 6 ranked Villanova. The Bears, however, had some luck on their side. Despite taking 11 fewer shots and producing 12 fewer shots on goal than Villanova, the Bears managed to squeak out a 13–11 win. This victory came in large part due to the heroics of junior goalie Connor Theriault, who managed a season-high 22-saves in the contest.
These numbers will be particularly hard to sustain against the reigning USA Lacrosse Magazine Player of the Week Tiger attacker Coulter Mackesy, who produced a ludicrous eight goals against Yale. Mackesy and the rest of the Tiger attack should have more success putting the ball in the back of the net than Villanova did. Expect their offense to overpower the Bears and give Princeton a comfortable win.
Princeton 15, Brown 13 - Harrison Blank, Contributor
Both teams enter Saturday's game near the bottom of the Ivy League standings, needing to string wins together in hopes of rescuing their seasons.
The Princeton defense has been strong all season long, holding highly ranked teams like Yale and Penn to ten and nine goals, respectively. Junior goalie Michael Gianforcaro excelled in his second career start last week and often works in tandem with senior goalie Griffen Rakower.
Regardless of which goalie plays or if both goalies play throughout the game, the Tiger defense will have a steady anchor between the pipes. The aggressive and consistent play of the defense will provide possessions for the Tiger sharpshooters.
Sophomore attacker Coulter Mackesy tore up the Yale defense with eight goals last Saturday, and I predict he will bring five more against the Bears to lead the Tiger offense. With help from senior midfielders Christian Ronda and Sam English, Mackesy's scoring ability will give the Tigers the lead from the start, and they will not give it up.
The Bears come to Sherrerd Field after upsetting a very skilled Villanova team with an impressive offensive performance. However, the Bears’ defense has been prone to surrendering high scoring games to opponents — 19 goals to UNC and 16 to Harvard. The Tigers offense will capitalize on this weakness.
I don't believe that the Bears offense can keep pace with Mackesy and the Tiger offense, especially when they have to contend with the tenacious and physical Tiger defense. The Tigers will jump out to an early lead and withstand a late surge to take the much-needed Ivy League victory.
Diego Uribe is an Assistant Editor to the Sports and contributor to the News section at the ‘Prince.’
Harrison Blank is a contributor to the Sports section at the ‘Prince.’
Please direct any corrections requests to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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