CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The quarter-century wait is over.
After 25 years, Princeton has returned to the mountaintop of college lacrosse.
On Memorial Day, No. 1 men’s lacrosse (17–2 overall, 5–1 Ivy League) defeated 2-seeded and No. 3 ranked Notre Dame (13–3, 3–1 Atlantic Coast Conference) 16–9.
This marks the program’s seventh overall title and the first since 2001. It is also the first team NCAA championship for Princeton athletics since men’s and women’s fencing won the NCAA combined title in 2013.
“We walk into an office with six national championship trophies every day,” Head Coach Matt Madalon told The Daily Princetonian. “It reminds us we’re at a place where it can absolutely be done, so it’s extremely motivating.”
“It reminds everyone on campus that it can be done at the highest level and done the right way with high academic guys,” Madalon later said when asked about winning the University’s first team NCAA championship since 2013.
Senior captain and attacker Chad Palumbo led the Tigers’ scoring with four goals, alongside junior captain and attacker Colin Burns, who tallied three. Junior attacker Nate Kabiri — a 2026 Tewaaraton Award finalist — had a goal and three assists while being guarded by fellow Tewaaraton finalist and Notre Dame defender Shawn Lyght.
“[Offensive Coordinator Jim Mitchell] really talked about how it’s all about us, so we just focused on doing us well, which is good spacing and ball movement, and trusting each other, and winning matchups, and I think when we do all those things, good things happen,” Burns said.
Senior goalkeeper Ryan Croddick, who had 20 saves to lead the Tigers through the semifinal to the title game, finished with 13 saves and 1 assist. Croddick was named the Most Outstanding Player in the tournament after 55 saves in four games and allowing just eight goals per game.
“When [Croddick’s] seeing the ball, this team feels unstoppable,” Palumbo said.
After going down 3–0 in the early minutes, the Orange and Black went on an 11–0 run that extended the rest of the first half to take a commanding 11–3 lead at halftime. Despite struggling in the second half, Princeton held on for a 16–9 win.
After bowing out of the NCAA quarterfinals in 2025 due to defensive struggles, the 2026 team buckled down and honed in on that end of the field. With a balanced offense, stellar play at the face-off X and in goal, and contributions from its entire midfield unit, they powered their way to a national championship.
Following the strong start by the Fighting Irish, the Tigers were facing the largest deficit in their NCAA tournament run, with Madalon opting to call an early timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Tigers switched to a zone defense. On the other end of the field, Palumbo opened the scoring before sophomore midfielder Porter Malkiel cut the deficit to one.
“We prepared as much as we could for it, but unfortunately, we didn’t show up today when they went to zone,” Notre Dame attacker Josh Yago said. Yago, a fifth-year transfer from Air Force, finished the Memorial Day game with two goals and one assist to lead the Fighting Irish offense.
“I think we prepared all year to go into the zone,” Croddick added. “We haven’t had to use it much lately, but we just have trust in our guys, and the zone sort of slows them down a little bit. They’re a super athletic team, so the game started to move a little slower, and it was very helpful for us.”
Malkiel is part of a second midfield that has the most goals out of any Division I program, with 42 heading into Monday’s game. At the end of the first quarter, the game was tied at three following Palumbo’s 10th goal of the NCAA tournament.
“He’s our emotional leader. He’s one of our team captains. His love for the game is what we’ve kind of always based our recruiting around,” Madalon said of Palumbo.
Like they had done earlier against Cornell in the Ivy League Tournament and against Penn State and Duke in the national tournament, the Orange and Black went on an extensive 8–0 run throughout the entirety of the second quarter.
“Today was just not our day,” Notre Dame Head Coach Kevin Corrigan said. “We felt like there were periods of the game where we just got outplayed, and I know there were large periods of the game where we were outcoached. This was a very disappointing result for a team that found a way week after week.”
Burns got the party started with a diving goal, and shortly after, senior face-off specialist Andrew McMeekin won the face-off on the ensuing possession and took it to the end himself to make the score 5–3.
The scoring continued as senior midfielder John Dunphey, junior midfielder Tucker Wade, sophomore midfielder Jake Vana, and Kabiri all added their names to the scoresheet.
“He knows that he’s going to have the number one defenseman on him every game, and he doesn’t make it about himself,” Palumbo said of Kabiri. “He just wants the team to win. I think that’s what makes him so special. He’s an unbelievable player, and I think his point-to-turnover ratio is awesome, and he’s the best player on the best team.”
The Fighting Irish trailed for just 134 seconds in the NCAA tournament before the title game. Heading into the locker room, they had trailed for over 13 minutes in the first half, with the Tigers dominating, particularly in the ground balls.
“We always kind of preach that,” Madalon said. “We break huddles on [ground balls] a lot. As not exciting as that sounds, it is the most important part of the game, so I think our guys really focused on that.”
During that halftime break, the Tigers’ 2001 title-winning team was honored at midfield. Similar to 2016, when the University of North Carolina won and broke a 25-year drought while its 1991 title-winning team was honored, Princeton got the job done on Monday.
However, despite the eight-goal deficit, the Fighting Irish refused to give up. After attempting just 15 shots in the first half, Notre Dame beat that number with 17 third-quarter shots. The Tigers struggled with clearing the ball as Notre Dame midfielder Will Angrick scored two goals before attacker Luke Miller’s 34th goal of the season cut the deficit to five. But a crucial late goal by Burns gave Princeton a 13–7 lead heading into the final quarter of play.
In the fourth quarter, both sides began by exchanging goals to make the score 14–8. In 11 of their last 12 games, Princeton has scored 14 or more goals, whereas the Fighting Irish have averaged just over 8 goals allowed per game.
In the middle of the quarter, junior short stick midfielder Cooper Mueller put the Fighting Irish to bed after going coast to coast following a loose ball on the defensive end that was picked up by senior captain and long stick midfielder Cooper Kistler.
“I don’t think [senior long-stick midfielder Zach Friedman] and Kistler got enough credit throughout the year; they just did their job,” Madalon said. “You never write about them. You never hear about them. That’s the best attribute of a defenseman. Means [they] didn’t make too many mistakes.”
Following that goal, the Tigers held on for a 16–9 win, giving Madalon his first national championship as his players poured the blue Gatorade over him. The win also marks the second consecutive year that an Ivy League team has won the title, with Cornell winning in 2025.
“That’s a moment that you dream about your whole life,” Palumbo said. “When we realized that we were going to win it, it was just unbelievable. I don’t think there’s words that really describe that moment.”
While Croddick, McMeekin, and Palumbo are not easy players to replace, the Tigers will return a majority of their starting lineup and will likely be the No. 1 ranked team heading into 2027.
Madalon’s squad will return their entire defense, along with Kabiri, Burns, and sophomore attacker Peter Buonnano, who missed the second half of the season due to injury.
“It’s really exciting,” Madalon said. “We’ll very much miss those guys, and we’re thrilled to get right back to work. It will be a hungry group.”
Hayk Yengibaryan is a senior Sports writer for the ‘Prince.’ He is from Glendale, Calif. He can be reached at hy5161[at]princeton.edu.
Cadigan Perriello is an assistant Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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