Princeton Men’s Lacrosse Dominates Notre Dame, Wins NCAA Title

Playing for a historically successful program comes with high expectations, and this year’s Princeton men’s lacrosse team lived up to its lofty legacy, capping a dominant postseason run with an astonishing 16-9 win over Notre Dame in the NCAA title game May 25. 

“We walk into an office with six national championship trophies every day,” head coach Matt Madalon said after the game. “It reminds us we’re at a place where it can absolutely be done. So it’s extremely motivating. You see those teams, especially the 2001 team here today, we’ve always termed it ‘forever teams.’ Those teams that win championships stay together forever, 25-year reunions and so on. So, that’s what these guys get to do now.”

The 2001 team — Princeton’s last national champion — won its title in a 10-9 overtime thriller against Syracuse and gathered at the Final Four in Charlottesville, Virginia, to celebrate its 25th anniversary. This year’s team earned the same prize with a very different performance. 

The Irish, who were national champs in 2023 and 2024, scored three goals in the game’s first five minutes, but the Tigers settled down after a timeout by Madalon, who shifted into a zone defense from man-to-man. “We prepared all year to go into the zone,” goalie Ryan Croddick ’26 said. “We haven’t had to use it much lately, but we had to trust in our guys. Zone sort of slows them down a bit, and they’re a super athletic team. The game started to move a little slower, and it was very helpful for us.” Notre Dame didn’t score again until early in the third quarter. 

Princeton charges the field after a convincing 16-9 win over Notre Dame in the NCAA final.

Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The No. 1-seeded Tigers picked up 29 ground balls to the No. 2 Irish’s 11 in the first half. That translated into a considerable advantage in possessions and scoring chances. Princeton outshot Notre Dame 33-15 in the half. 

Princeton tied the game on two goals and an assist by starting attacker Chad Palumbo ’26. Palumbo would score all of his team-high four goals during the Tigers’ 11-0 run before halftime. The Irish didn’t get closer than five goals in the second half.

Croddick made 13 saves while allowing nine goals. He also excelled in the Tigers’ 14-7 semifinal win over Duke, making 20 saves in that game. He was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

“He’s always in a good head space going to the game, and he’s holding it down there for us,” Palumbo said. “When Ryan’s seeing the ball, this team feels unstoppable. I think he’s the energy and the pulse of our entire defense.”

Princeton won its last 12 games, a streak that spanned more than two full months. Prior to this year’s championship, the Tigers won six NCAA titles, all between 1992 and 2001, and all with Hall of Fame coach Bill Tierney at the helm.

The championship is a defining moment for Madalon, who came to Princeton as an assistant coach in the fall of 2013 and was named interim head coach with five games left in the 2016 season. The team went 3-2, and Madalon got the job. He took the Tigers to the NCAA semifinals in 2022 and won the Ivy League Tournament in 2023, 2024, and 2026.

Beating Notre Dame was also a momentous ending for Princeton’s seniors, whose previous three NCAA trips included two heartbreaking one-goal losses. A day after the game, they donned their caps and gowns and carried the national championship trophy into Princeton Stadium for Commencement. 

This version appears in the July/August 2026 print edition. An earlier game story was published online.