The Tigers went toe to toe with the Orange for nearly 60 minutes, but in the end, the Tigers were dealt the final blow.
On Saturday afternoon, No. 3 ranked and seeded Tiger men’s lacrosse (13–4 overall, 5–1 Ivy League) bowed out of the NCAA tournament in the quarterfinals, losing to No. 5 ranked and No. 6 seeded Syracuse (13–5, 2–2 Atlantic Coast Conference) 19–18 after an instant thriller with 11 ties and nine lead changes.
“That was one of the craziest games I’ve ever been a part of,” junior attacker Chad Palumbo told reporters postgame. “There’s a lot of trust and a lot of love in this squad.”
For the Orange, the win marks their first appearance in the Final Four since 2013 and their 27th overall. Meanwhile, the season comes to an end for a Tiger team who had national championship aspirations, but ended the season trophy-less. The rivalry between both sides is a storied one, with Princeton and Syracuse meeting in three consecutive NCAA finals from 2000–2002.
“Our goal is to always take these groups as far as we can,” Head Coach Matt Madalon said postgame. “This is a group we thought we could take really far. The buy-in from this group was truly incredible.”
Palumbo was exceptional, finishing with a career-high six goals, tying the program record for goals in an NCAA tournament game, alongside two assists. Senior attacker Coulter Mackesy and first-year attacker Peter Buonanno each recorded a hat trick. However, it wasn’t enough to stop Syracuse attackers Joey Spallina and Owen Hiltz, who combined for seven goals and six assists.
Mackesy’s career comes to an end in Old Nassau, where he finishes first all-time in career goals with 167 and second all-time in points with 248 (167 goals, 81 assists).
“Anytime a season comes to an end and you have to say goodbye to a senior class, I think that’s the hardest part of these moments,” Madalon said.
The biggest surprise of the night came at the X. Coming into the game, Syracuse face-off specialist John Mullen ranked third in the country in success rate and won over 80 percent of his draws last weekend against Harvard. However, junior face-off specialist Andrew McMeekin had other plans, winning 20 of 36 for the Tigers. Mullen finished under 50 percent for just the third time in 18 games.
“He’s [Mullen] obviously one of the best in the country, but we think really highly of our guy [McMeekin] as well,” coach Madalon said.
Both sides exchanged goals to start the game, with Palumbo getting on the board for the Tigers. Consecutive goals by Mackesy and sophomore midfielder Tucker Wade put Princeton up 3–1. For Mackesy, it marked his 35th straight game with a goal.
The Tigers only grew their lead as they went up 5–2, but the Orange soon responded. Mullen won three consecutive draws as Syracuse ripped away four consecutive goals to take a 6–5 lead at the end of the first quarter. All 11 first-quarter goals came from a different player.
The second quarter was all Spallina, who scored four unassisted goals on senior defender Colin Mulshine to give the Orange a 9–7 lead. Coach Madalon decided to make a change and put sophomore defender Jack Stahl on Spallina. After a near five minute drought, Mackesy showed his shot versatility to cut the Syracuse lead to one, 9–8.
Syracuse goalie Jimmy McCool came up with big play after big play for the Orange, making five key saves in the second quarter. However, consecutive goals by Palumbo and Mackesy in 15 seconds gave Princeton an 11–10 lead at the half. Junior goalie Ryan Croddick had eight saves for the Tigers compared with McCool’s nine. In the opening 30 minutes, every statistical category was nearly even.
Syracuse midfielder Sam English ’23 tied the game at 11 early in the third quarter after the Orange successfully killed off a Tiger man up opportunity. The former Princeton standout was picked third in the Premier Lacrosse League draft and does it all for the Orange. In 36 career games across two seasons with the Orange, English has 46 goals and 23 assists.
From here on out, it was all Syracuse. The Orange were all over the ground balls, causing turnovers while their offense stayed hot. McMeekin stayed hot at the X, but Princeton failed to capitalize on the possessions that followed, shooting one for seven from the field.
The Orange went on a 6–0 run in the third quarter, holding Princeton scoreless for 15 minutes to take a 16–12 lead at the end of the quarter. Princeton’s lone goal came from Palumbo as time expired.
The third quarter was arguably Syracuse’s best quarter of lacrosse in 2025, turning the ball over just once, scoring six, and holding Princeton to one.
“Staying true to ourselves and holding the rope was the main message in that third quarter,” senior captain and defender Michael Bath said.
In the fourth quarter, the Tigers showed their resilience. Junior midfielder John Dunphey scored for Princeton to ignite the run. Two consecutive wins at the X by McMeekin allowed Palumbo to score consecutive goals to cut the lead to one, 16–15.
After an Orange turnover, sophomore midfielder Cooper Mueller tied the game at 16. It took under five minutes for Princeton to rip away four consecutive goals to give the game its eighth tie since 0–0.
The Tigers regained the lead with under five minutes to go as sophomore attacker Nate Kabiri added his name to the scoresheet with the shot clock expiring. Kabiri was quiet for most of the game after scoring five goals against Towson last weekend.
“I think [Croddick] stepping in this year and really doing a good job early in the season gave us a lot of confidence to get this team rolling,” coach Madalon said.
Unfortunately for Madalon’s squad, Syracuse scored two goals in 31 seconds and Princeton failed to score for the remainder of the game, with McCool making key stops at the end to deny Kabiri and Wade.
“It was a little bit of a chess match back and forth all game,” coach Madalon said.
Despite this game marking the end of Macksey’s career, the Tigers return several key pieces for 2026, including the attacking quadrant of Palumbo, Kabiri, Burns, and Buonanno. Other key returners include Croddick, Mueller, Wade, and especially crucial, McMeekin, who exceeded all expectations on Saturday afternoon.
Hayk Yengibaryan is an associate News editor, senior Sports writer, and education director for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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