No. 12 men’s lacrosse (1–1 overall, 0–0 Ivy League) had a rough season opener last week against No. 10 Penn State (2–2, 0–0 Big Ten Conference), looking overpowered and underprepared. On Saturday, however, they woke up against No. 2 Maryland to hand the Terrapins their first loss to a Princeton team since 2004.
The Tigers started the scoring against Maryland, something that challenged Princeton against the Nittany Lions. Junior short-stick defensive midfielder Cooper Mueller got it to go at the 14:26 mark in the first period.
“It was great to start the game by getting a goal on the board, but even bigger was being able to get that first stop,” Mueller told The Daily Princetonian.
The Tigers were working hard on both sides of the field to stop the Terps. It took a full team effort to beat the 2025 national finalist.
By the end of the first, the Tigers and Terps were tied up at four goals a-piece. Senior midfielder Chad Palumbo, senior midfielder John Dunphey, and sophomore attacker Peter Buonanno brought the other three Tiger tallies.
The second period started and the Tigers looked hungry to prove themselves. First-year midfielder Parker Reynolds opened with the first goal of the period, and the first of his Princeton career.
“There isn’t really a true way to describe what it felt like in the moment,” Reynolds told the ‘Prince.’ “I was looking forward to this game all week and was able to get the nerves out last week against Penn State.”
After that, Maryland equalized, but Princeton’s offense was up throughout this contest. Buonanno and junior attacker Colin Burns made quick work, scoring another two for the Tigers. Maryland got one more to go in the second, but Princeton went into halftime up 7–6.
“We felt we had played a great first half, but we definitely had some things to clean up,” Mueller said about Princeton’s halftime message. “The biggest thing we knew was that we had to come out of the locker room and punch first in that second half.”
Just like in the first and second periods, Princeton put the ball through the net first in the third. This time, it was sophomore midfielder Jake Vana with the goal. At the 8:33 mark, Palumbo scored again, giving his team a three-goal lead.
Maryland then went on a two-goal run leaving Princeton up by one, until Reynolds rocked one into the goal for the Tigers. Out of the subsequent timeout, the Terps managed to get one past the Princeton defense to put them within one yet again. To close the third quarter, Burns nailed in his second goal of the game and Princeton led 11–9.
“[Maryland] does such a great job controlling the pace of play once they’re ahead, so I think our defense really stepped up and did a great job but both of our units really performed,” head coach Matt Madalon told the ‘Prince.’
The fourth quarter was left to decide everything for these two teams. Junior midfielder Tucker Wade scored to extend the Princeton lead to three, then Vana recorded another of his own. With just under seven minutes to play, Princeton had a four-goal cushion at 13–9.
The Terps would not go down without a fight, though. Maryland’s Eric Spanos was a problem for Princeton down until the end, as he scored twice in the fourth to cut the score to a two-goal differential. Another Maryland shot got behind senior goalie Ryan Croddick, further clawing away at the Tiger lead.
Now a one-point game, the pressure was on Princeton to close this one out.
Croddick, the 2025 Ivy League Goalie of the Year and named on the Tewaaraton Award Preseason Watchlist this season, knew what he had to do.
The nine seconds left on the game clock couldn’t wind down fast enough. Maryland got a clean shot off, but Croddick came in clutch, extending to make a game-winning save. He had nine in total on the day.
For Croddick, Princeton’s performance sent a pretty clear message: “We can play with anyone.” The Tigers are set to play No. 1 Syracuse, the team that knocked them out in the 2025 NCAA Quarterfinals, this Friday at home. The Tigers managed to change the tides of history this weekend — time will only tell if they can do it again.
Emilia Reay is a senior Sports writer for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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