SEEING RED: Princeton University men’s lacrosse player Chad Palumbo, right, heads to goal in recent action. Last Sunday, senior attacker Palumbo tallied three goals and two assists to help second-seeded Princeton defeat top-seeded Cornell 19-9 in the final of the Ivy League postseason tournament. The win snapped the Tigers’ seven-game losing streak to the Big Red. Princeton, now 13-2, received the No. 1 seed for the upcoming NCAA tournament where it will host a first round game on May 10 between the winner of the opening round contest between Marist and Stony Brook. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
Bringing a six-game winning streak into the Ivy League postseason tournament last weekend at Ithaca, N.Y., the Princeton University men’s lacrosse team looked like it could be heading to a loss as it fell behind Yale 6-2 in the second quarter in a semifinal clash last Friday.
Princeton head coach Matt Madalon was feeling some nerves as his squad struggled in the early going.
“Yale is a good, tough team that is always well coached,” said Madalon. “I was very concerned down 6-2. We weren’t playing great. There were a couple too many turnovers on offense and a couple too many mistakes defensively early on where we were going rogue from the game plan.”
But playing some very good lacrosse, Princeton reeled off seven straight goals over the next 21 minutes of action as they pulled away to a 12-10 win.
“Once the guys settled in and woke up a little bit, we started playing a lot better,” said Madalon. “There weren’t any profound messages, it was just a matter of playing better lacrosse.”
Tiger junior midfielder Tucker Wade scored two goals in the second quarter to help initiate the rally.
“We think he is one of the best players in the country,” said Madalon. “He is a really good, tough smart lacrosse player. He really did get us going with some timely goals.”
Princeton senior attacker and co-captain Chad Palumbo was proud of the character the Tigers displayed in rallying for the victory.
“It is resilience, we have been saying every single week this group is insatiable,” said Palumbo in a postgame interview with ESPN. “By no means are we a perfect team but we learn from our mistakes. We really pride ourselves in our resilience. So going down 6-2, we looked internal and said what can we figure out.”
In Madalon’s view, the win gave the Tigers a boost as they advanced to a title showdown on Sunday against top-seeded and host Cornell.
“To have our guys wake up and stick to the game plan and get to playing better, smarter lacrosse, I think it absolutely gives you a little confidence,” said Madalon, who got three goals and two assists from Palumbo in the win with Wade chipping in three goals and one assist. “It is hey we know we are playing well and that can play with anyone in the country.”
With Princeton having lost seven straight games to the Big Red, including a 13-11 defeat in a regular season meeting on April 11, Palumbo vowed that the Tigers were psyched to turn the tables in the rivalry.
“Cornell has taken a lot from us over the years,” said Palumbo on the ESPN broadcast. “There is a lot of rage built in us from that. We wanted to see Cornell, we have wanted it all season since we lost to them the first time. When this group comes out you are going to see a ferocity that frankly I don’t think we have seen all year.”
For Madalon, that mindset was appropriate. “I love the extra intensity, you can never really shy away from that as a competitor,” said Madalon. “As long as you are genuine, which Chad truly is. That was a great, genuine answer. That was from the heart and he was spot on.”
In the final on Sunday, the Tigers displayed that ferocity as they jumped out to an early 6-2 lead.
“In those moments, you are just OK, hey you are fortunate,” said Madalon. “The bounces are going your way, you are playing good lacrosse. You want to bottle what you were doing and keep pushing through.”
After Cornell narrowed the gap to 7-5 at halftime, Princeton pushed back hard, starting the third quarter with a 9-0 run to turn the game into a rout as the Tigers prevailed 19-9.
“In those moments, the great teams are able to put teams away,” said Madalon. “It was just a matter of settling into our systems and keep going. It happens in a blink but going back and watching it, it is awesome to see the guys playing good, confident lacrosse. That is always exciting, it was different guys stepping up at the right time.”
In Palumbo’s view, the breakthrough win was the product of an awesome all-around effort.
“There were so many good performances all over the field,” said Palumbo in an ESPN interview after the win. “You look at the third quarter run we made, that ended up sealing the game for us. That was every single facet of the game. On offense we were just going as hard as possible, trusting each other. We were getting our opportunities and we started burying more of them. Our defense held tight down all game. Guys were diving in front of shots. [Ryan] Croddick was standing on his head in goal as usual. This was just a full team win. All 10 guys on the field were battling the whole time.”
The Tiger defense came up big as it contained Cornell offensive stars Ryan Goldstein and Willem Firth for most of the contest.
“I think [Jack] Stahl and [Finn] Fox did an outstanding job for us, those are really hard matchups,” said Madalon. “They were able to do that because of guys like Jackson Green and Cooper Mueller who were able to cover the shortsticks so we didn’t have be overly supporting. If you overly support against Cornell, they really get going. The shortstick d-middies were incredible. [Cooper] Kistler and [Zach] Friedman as seniors are warriors at the pole position for us.”
Ending the losing streak against nemesis Cornell was an incredible achievement for the Tigers, who improved to 13-2 with the win.
“Every time we played them, I thought those were two good teams,” said Madalon, who got three goals and two assists from both Colin Burns and Palumbo against Cornell with Nate Kabiri piling up two goals and five assists as he was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. “Any time you can beat a program that has taken that much from you, it is just awesome. Hopefully it gives us confidence going into the tournament.”
Later on Sunday, the Tigers learned that they had earned the No. 1 seed for the upcoming NCAA tournament.
“It is a really cool honor, we always try to play one of the toughest schedules in the country,” said Madalon, whose team will host a first round game on May 10 between the winner of the opening round contest between Marist and Stony Brook. “Obviously the committee recognized that but just happy to play in the NCAA tournament. Any seed is a good seed.”
Riding an eight-game winning streak and buoyed by finally overcoming Cornell, the Tigers are going to be tough to beat in the NCAA tournament which culminates with the championship game on Memorial Day in Charlottesville, Va.
“I think the mission every year is to be the team that ends the season in a pile,” said Madalon. “I think this is a pretty hungry group, they are very motivated.”