Versatile Attackman Coulter Mackesy ’25 Leads Men’s Lacrosse to Impressive Start

Coulter Mackesy ’25 has scored 137 goals for the men’s lacrosse team through March 2, the third most in program history, and he’s scored them in an unusually wide variety of ways. He can create his own shot from behind the goal or above it, with or without a pick, and he’s adept at moving without the ball to find space for uncontested shots.

That range is a product of Mackesy’s skill and his experience with multiple sports as well as the team’s approach to offense, which seeks to move players around the field to keep the defense off balance, and it was on full display in the team’s first four games of the year, all of which were against top-10 teams. 

Mackesy scored 14 goals and assisted on five others in those contests, which included wins over UNC, Duke, and Penn State and a loss to Maryland, the top-ranked team in the country.     

“When you defend Coulter, you have a laundry list of things you have to worry about as a defense,” said Jim Mitchell, the Princeton assistant coach who runs the team’s offense.

Mackesy is right-handed, but he plays lacrosse left-handed, meaning his left hand is on the top of his stick. Growing up, he also played baseball and golf left-handed, but he played competitive squash as a right-hander. 

Squash involves considerable right-handed wrist motion, Mackesy said, and having his strong hand on the bottom of his lacrosse stick gives more control when he’s shooting. “I try to have a lot of different release points where I can use my wrists to control the shot,” he said.

Mackesy, a co-captain of this year’s team along with Michael Bath ’25, has honed that skill in college. “I try to train our shooters in a way that reflects the game,” said Mitchell. “No shot is ever exactly the same, so you want to build that variability into the training.” 

Mackesy’s shooting motion is fluid and deceptive, which makes the ball harder for a goalie to save. “We do a lot of work on making the goalie fall one way, and Coulter does that the best of any of us,” said Nate Kabiri ’27, who starts on attack with Mackesy.

In addition, Kabiri said, Mackesy “can create his own shot at will from being such a deceptive dodger. He’ll make his defenseman turn his hips and go one way and then go the other way. He draws so much attention from opposing defensemen that he opens up other guys for shots.” 

Mackesy’s skills fit perfectly into an offense that emphasizes versatility. In Mackesy’s first year, Mitchell put him on the left wing to take advantage of his skill as a pure shooter. Now, Mitchell said, “I make an effort every game to force the defense to defend him in different ways by moving him all over the field and using his speed and his athleticism.” 

Against Penn State, Mackesy scored only one of his five goals on an open shot from the left wing. He scored twice on plays where he started behind the goal and got a step on his man, once with the help of a pick from a teammate.  

His other two goals came when he started well above the goal and beat his man to get open shots on the run from about 10 yards. That positioning is by design; getting Mackesy the ball 15 or 20 yards above the goal with space to run allows him to use his speed and shoot with his left hand.  

Instead of having set plays, Mackesy said, “We play a very free-flowing offense, and part of that is being dynamic and unpredictable. If you’re one-dimensional, you’re easy to scout and stop for an opponent, but having multiple weapons in your arsenal allows you to be more successful.”