Princeton Men’s Lacrosse Advances to NCAA Final Four

The 2001 Princeton men’s lacrosse team will be honored at halftime of Monday’s NCAA championship game in recognition of the 25th anniversary of its national title. This year’s edition of the Tiger squad is vying to be there as well, aiming to play for the program’s first title since 2001.

On Saturday at noon, Princeton will play Duke in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament in Charlottesville, Virginia. The winner will play either Notre Dame or Syracuse at 1 p.m. on Monday. 

Princeton, the top seed in the tournament, survived a hard-fought game against Penn State at the University of Delaware on May 17, winning 14-10 to earn the program’s first trip to the national semis since 2022.  

Head coach Matt Madalon cited the “maturity” of his team’s senior class as critical to the win. “In those moments, you need those guys to be poised,” he said.  “You need them to say, ‘Don’t make an emotional play, just settle into the game plan and it’ll start falling our way if stay consistent and keep executing.’” 

The Nittany Lions led 10-9 and had the ball on an extended possession early in the fourth quarter before defensive midfielder Jackson Green ’27 intercepted a pass, ran out a clear, and moved the ball to attacker Chad Palumbo ’26, who passed it to  streaking defensive midfielder Quinn Krammer ’27. Krammer buried the shot to tie the game, and the Tigers never trailed again. 

Palumbo assisted midfielder John Dunphey ’26 on the go-ahead goal with 6:43 left in the game. Andrew McMeekin ’26 controlled the ensuing faceoff and scored five seconds later before midfielder Tucker Wade ’27 gave the Tigers some breathing room with his fourth goal of the game.  

Duke didn’t need such dramatics in its quarterfinal against Georgetown, building a 6-1 lead at halftime and cruising to a 16-6 win. The victory continued a late-season run that started just in time. 

Duke went 8-0 to open the year, though none of those wins came against a highly ranked opponent. The Blue Devils then lost consecutive games to Syracuse, Virgina, Cornell, and Notre Dame by a total of eight goals before beating North Carolina.  

Duke missed the ACC Tournament but secured one of the last two at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament, then came from three goals down in the fourth quarter to earn a 14-12 win at Richmond before dismantling Georgetown. 

“They’re always very athletic,” Madalon said of the Blue Devils, noting their “physicality” and “confidence in their defensive matchups.”   

Duke head coach John Danowski praised the Tigers, saying they are “so highly skilled offensively,” even on the second midfield.   

Charlie Johnson, Duke’s best defenseman, was a second-team All-American last year; his mother Katie (Thurlow) Johnson ’92 was herself a first-team All-American in lacrosse.  

Duke’s top player may be short-stick defensive midfielder Aidan Maguire. Duke switched goalies late in the year, but Buck Cunningham has won three of his four starts and saved 53% of the shots he’s seen.  

Offensively, Duke is led by midfielders Benn Johnston and Max Sloat, the team’s top two scorers on the year, who combined for seven goals against Georgetown.  

Saturday’s second semifinal will pit No. 2 seed Notre Dame, which won NCAA titles in 2023 and 2024, against No. 6 seed Syracuse, which last won in 2009 and is making its second straight appearance in the semis. The Irish beat the Orange 16-11 in South Bend, Indiana, on April 25.  

The teams have contrasting styles, as they demonstrated in quarterfinal wins on May 16 at Hofstra University. The Irish smothered Johns Hopkins 15-9 with a typically methodical effort, while Syracuse attacker Joey Spallina, perhaps the best offensive player in the country, had three goals and three assists to lead the always aggressive Orange to a 13-11 victory over North Carolina. 

If Princeton wins on Saturday, it will play in the season’s biggest game Monday, but the team will be used to the short turnaround. The Tigers played their best game of the season in the Ivy League Tournament final, dismantling Cornell 19-9 after beating Yale two days earlier. Princeton also defeated Syracuse and North Carolina over a weekend early in the season.  

That scheduling was by design, Madalon said: “We try to play two games in three days a handful of times in our schedule to give us an opportunity to play tired, to play on short rest with a short scout, to understand how to make those coaching adjustments and use our depth.”