Men’s Lacrosse Falls to Syracuse in Wild NCAA Quarterfinal

The men’s lacrosse team lost to Syracuse, 19-18, in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament at Hofstra on Saturday, May 17. The Tigers rallied from a five-goal deficit to take an 18-17 lead only to see the Orange score the game’s last two goals. The loss ended a season in which Princeton went 13-4 and was consistently ranked in the top five nationally.

“It was one of the craziest games I’ve ever been a part of,” said midfielder Chad Palumbo ’26, who scored six goals on the day and added two assists. “Those are obviously tough moments when you’re tested, but the way we responded is a testament to how tight this group is.”

The contest was played at a furious pace from the start. Princeton went up 5-2 barely seven minutes into the first quarter, but Syracuse answered with a 7-2 run of its own. The Tigers ended the first half with a 4-1 burst to take a one-goal lead, getting two goals apiece from Palumbo and attackman Coulter Mackesy 25, who took a two-minute unnecessary roughness penalty from Syracuse goalie Jimmy McCool on a score with one second left in the second quarter.

The Orange foiled Princeton on that man-up opportunity to start the third quarter and went on to tally six straight goals before Palumbo scored with three seconds left in the quarter to ignite a 7-1 Princeton rally capped by a goal from attackman Nate Kabiri ’27 that gave the Tigers an 18-17 lead with five minutes left.

But Syracuse won the next two faceoffs and scored on the ensuing possessions to take the lead and held on for the win, with McCool saving late shots from Kabiri and midfielder Tucker Wade ’27.

In addition to Palumbo’s six goals, which tied a Princeton record for most goals in an NCAA playoff game shared by Jesse Hubbard ’98, Chris Massey ’98, and Mackesy, the Tigers got three goals and three assists from midfielder Peter Buonanno ’28 and three goals from Mackesy, who finished his career as the program’s leader in goals and is one of five finalists for the Tewaaraton Award, the top honor in the college game. 

Princeton also received a terrific performance from Andrew McMeekin ’26, who won 56% of his faceoffs against Syracuse’s John Mullen, a second-team All-American.

“Our goal is to take these groups as far as we can,” head coach Matt Madalon said after the game. “This is a group we thought we could take really far. We want these guys playing fast and creative, and they did just that.”

Princeton’s promise was evident from the start of the season, when the Tigers won 11-10 at Penn State in overtime and beat Duke 15-14 and the University of North Carolina 14-12 on a three-day road trip in March. Princeton then went 5-1 in the Ivy League, losing only to Cornell, which also defeated the Tigers in the final of the Ivy League Tournament.

Mackesy was selected as a first-team All-American, and he, Wade, defenseman Colin Mulshine ’25, and short-stick defensive midfielder Cooper Mueller ’27 were named first-team All-Ivy League. Ryan Croddick ’26 was the Ivy Goalie of the Year, and Buonanno was the Ivy Rookie of the Year.

Princeton returns five of its top six scorers next year along with McMeekin, Croddick, and a core of defensive players, a cast that should be one of the nation’s top-ranked squads going into the 2026 season.