For nearly ten months, the memory of Syracuse ending Princeton’s 2025 campaign lingered.
“[Syracuse] is a team that ended it all for our seniors last year, so it had a big circle around it, especially for the older guys,” junior defender Jack Stahl told the Daily Princetonian. “It was good to get a win there.”
On Friday evening, No. 7 Princeton men’s lacrosse (2–1 overall, 0–0 Ivy League) avenged that loss and defended its home turf with a dominant defensive performance against No. 6 Syracuse (3–2, 0–0 Atlantic Coast Conference) in the annual ACC/Ivy Challenge.
The Orange and Black stormed out to a 6–0 lead in the opening 20 minutes and never looked back, securing an 11–7 win. Nevertheless, the tension was high the whole game. Coming into the matchup, Syracuse had averaged 14 goals per game and had outshot all four of its opponents.
“It felt like a one goal game the entire time,” head coach Matt Madalon said.
After being upset by No. 15 Penn State (3–2, 0–0 Big Ten) in its season opener, Princeton has now defeated both No. 9 Maryland (1–3, 0–0 Big Ten) and Syracuse in consecutive weeks. Both programs have spent time at No. 1 in the polls this February.
“I think it lit a fire under our guys’ rears,” Madalon said. “Just knowing that you only have so many games … game days are sacred in the sense that you work so hard, you practice all year for 14–17 games.”
The Tigers shut down Syracuse star attacker Joey Spallina. Spallina — one of the best attackers in the country — did not attempt a shot in the first 20 minutes of the game and finished with zero points for just the third time in his career.
“It was a team effort,” Stahl told the ‘Prince.’ “We had a gameplan and we executed it well and adjusted when we had to.”
In last year’s quarterfinal game, Spallina finished with four unassisted goals and four assists and came into the match with 17 points in his last two games against Madalon’s squad. Stahl got the Spallina matchup and dominated.
“I think Stahl did an outstanding job,” Madalon said. “That’s the best player in the country. I’m glad we caught him on an off day.”
Senior goalie Ryan Croddick came up big for Princeton with 14 saves, including multiple key saves in the second half to keep the Orange at bay. Junior attacker Nate Kabiri and senior midfielder and captain Chad Palumbo paced the offense with three points each, while senior face-off specialist Andrew McMeekin went 10-for-19 on face-offs.
The Tigers played a near-perfect opening 15 minutes. After Syracuse killed off a 30-second penalty, sophomore attacker Peter Buonanno put Princeton up 1–0.
The Tigers continued to roll. After the Orange killed a 60-second slashing penalty, first-year midfielder Parker Reynolds put the ball past Syracuse goalkeeper Jimmy McCool.
At the end of the first quarter, the Orange and Black led 5–0, with McMeekin, senior midfielder John Dunphey and Palumbo all adding their name to the scoresheet.
The second quarter was much of the same at the start. Junior midfielder Tucker Wade found the back of the net to make it 6–0 with 13:08 remaining in the second quarter.
“It was great to see them working all together and performing well, and it definitely gave us some confidence going in,” Stahl said regarding the early lead.
“[Princeton] took it to us from the opening whistle,” Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said. “We need to regroup, and we need to get better.”
After almost 25 minutes without a goal, the Orange found the back of the net on a man-up opportunity. The Tiger defense committed two slashing penalties in the second period, with Syracuse converting both times to make it 6–2.
Both sides exchanged goals in the final three minutes of the second quarter and the Tigers went into the locker room with an 8–4 lead. Despite the four-goal cushion, the momentum was clearly shifting towards the visitors.
Coming out of the locker room, Princeton was quick to kill Syracuse’s momentum. After McMeekin won the opening face-off, he found Kabiri who scored to make the score 9–4.
The rest of the game was a defensive showdown. The Orange desperately tried to cut into the deficit but was never able to cut it closer than four as the Tigers defense held on for an 11–7 win.
“They just played very good team defense against us. They had a good gameplan and they got us today.” Gait said. “I thought when we did get some good looks, [Croddick] made the save, and he wasn’t just making the save, he was catching it.”
The Tigers quickly turn their attention to a marquee Sunday matchup against No.1 University of North Carolina (5–0, 0–0 Atlantic Coast Conference).
“They’re a great team offensively, very talented,” Stahl said. “We gotta stick to our principles and hone in on a good game plan.”
The Tar Heels are coming off a Friday evening win over No. 19 Penn (2–2, 0–0 Ivy League) and will look to keep the No. 1 spot with conference play around the corner.
While their schedule is tough, Madalon wants his team to be battle-tested.
“It teaches you to play tired, play a little dinged up, shorter, quicker scouts, and rely more on your systems, and you gotta learn quickly,” Madalon told the ‘Prince.’
Hayk Yengibaryan is a head News editor emeritus and senior Sports writer for the ‘Prince.’ He is from Glendale, Calif. and typically covers breaking news and profiles. He can be reached at hy5161[at]princeton.edu.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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