SIX SHOOTER: Princeton University men’s lacrosse player Chad Palumbo works his way to goal in recent action. Last Saturday, junior midfielder Palumbo tallied a career-high six goals and two assists in a losing cause as third-seeded Princeton lost 19-18 to sixth-seeded Syracuse in the NCAA quarterfinals. The loss left the Tigers with a final record of 13-4. (Photo by Steven Wojtowicz)

By Bill Alden

The rivalry between the Princeton University men’s lacrosse team and Syracuse ended up being the marquee matchup in the NCAA tournament from 1992-2003.

During that stretch, the foes met 10 times in the NCAA tourney with Princeton going 4-6 overall against the Orange and 2-2 in national championship games.

hen the two met last Saturday in the NCAA quarterfinals in Hempstead, N.Y., Princeton head coach Matt Madalon was excited to be part of another chapter in the storied rivalry.

“It was very, very cool; when I was growing up, it was Princeton-Syracuse,” said Madalon. “They were such dominant forces. Any time both of those programs can be back in prominence is always very special. We are both lucky to keep doing it at a high level.”

The 2025 edition of the matchup turned out to be very special as the teams produced a riveting roller-coaster ride that saw a late rally by third-seeded Princeton fall short as sixth-seeded Orange pulled out a 19-18 thriller before a crowd of 8,209 at Shuart Stadium.

The Tigers jumped out to a 5-2 lead only to see the Orange catch fire to tie the game at 9-9. Princeton scored two goals in the last 16 seconds of the second quarter to forge ahead 11-10 at halftime. Syracuse seized momentum in the third quarter as it built a 16-11 lead. The Tigers clawed back with a 5-0 run to knot the contest at 16-16 and then went ahead 18-17 with 4:54 left in regulation. The Orange, though, tallied two unanswered goals and got a stop on a Princeton possession in the waning seconds to earn the victory.

While Madalon acknowledged that the game was viewed as an instant classic, he rued some miscues that kept the Tigers from coming out with the win.

“I have had no shortage of folks reaching out to me, telling me how great that game was,” said Madalon. “From a coaching standpoint, we made a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes. When it comes down to it, Syracuse played a great game. There is nothing to take away from them. It was a really up-and-down game with almost 40 goals scored which is wild in itself.”

As the teams traded runs, the game turned into a chess match with the coaches adjusting on the fly.

“I think the conversations on any staff go on throughout the game,” said Madalon. “We were just trying to figure out how to move pieces around and get our best looks and be in the best position to make stops. That is a heck of a team and they made plays all over the field. They did a great job.”

Madalon was not surprised to see the Tigers produce their great fourth quarter rally.

“That is a testament to the schedule we play throughout the year,” said Madalon. “You can’t go into these games expecting anything less than an absolute battle. Finding ourselves in that position is obviously not ideal. We knew we had a ton of lacrosse left. There was zero panic in terms of either huddle. It was everyone has got to make some plays when you have the opportunity. It is just make sure that you are executing and you are efficient about it. There were some incredible offensive plays during that stretch, both as a called game and an executed game, It was a really good job by coach Mitch (offensive coordinator Jim Mitchell) and his crew.”

Tiger junior midfielder Chad Palumbo had an incredible game, tallying a career-high six goals with two assists.

“I was hoping we could have gotten that win with a special performance like that from Chad,” said Madalon. “He was very opportunistic, he was very tough. He made some incredible individual effort plays throughout that game.”

Another midfielder, freshman Peter Buonanno, made a number of big plays as he contributed three goals and three assists.

“We talk about getting better every day and he did just that in his first year here on campus,” said Madalon. “He just finished strong and what an awesome performance from him at the end of the year.”

The Tigers got a gritty performance from junior Andrew McMeekin at the X as he went 20-of-26 on face-offs and scooped up seven ground balls.

“He battled up and down throughout the year,” said Madalon of McMeekin.“In terms of how he works, he is very consistent. He is a very hard worker and for him to just scrap and battle for us and come out on top there was awesome. Going into that game everyone was talking about how that was going to be a big part of it. We knew under the hood that he just kept going to work there and hopefully we could come out on the right side of it or least 50 percent.”

Princeton had a chance to force overtime in the waning seconds of the game but a Tucker Wade shot was saved by Syracuse goalie Jimmy McCool.

“We are always looking for the highest percentage shot,” said Madalon. “We trust our guys to continue to make good decisions and hope they make great ones.”

In the wake of the loss, Madalon had no qualms with the effort he got from his players.

“It is tough in those moments to say anything,” said Madalon.“You want to stick together as long as you can as a team. This group did a heck of a job. It is in the Princeton lacrosse DNA in terms of never quitting and play through the full 60 minutes.”

The squad’s Class of 2025 made a major impact as it helped Princeton regain its status as a postseason fixture, highlighted by a run to the NCAA Final 4 in 2022.

“This senior class had four NCAA tournament appearances, two Ivy tournament championship wins,” said Madalon, who got three goals in the loss from senior standout Coulter Mackesy as he raised his career-record total to 167. “It is a very special crew. They did a good job of cementing the standard that is now the expectation. That is always the goal of any program to build consistency and try to put yourself in a position to win any championship.”

With a number of sophomore and junior stars coming back, Madalon believes the program is in a very good position.

“The talent that returns is awesome,” said Madalon. “That is always the goal – consistency in level of play and recruiting. Hopefully we are going to continue to work it there.”

Madalon, though, knows that talent alone doesn’t guarantee another deep NCAA run.

“It is lessons learned and how good you have to be and how consistent you have to be,” said Madalon. “It is really just to not take anything for granted. You never know when you are going to get your opportunity to play in a quarterfinal game let alone any playoff game. It is really hard to get there. We just have to get back to work. We know how hard it was to get there and we have to work a little harder.”