D-I Men's Lacrosse Notes: Princeton Coach Unsurprised by Goalie's Sparkling Debut

Princeton coach Matt Madalon made it a point to seek out goalie Ryan Croddick after the junior’s 21-save performance in Saturday’s 11-10 overtime defeat of Penn State.

The message: He hoped Croddick, who was making his first career start, wasn’t surprised at how the afternoon went.

“And he’s like ‘No Coach, I’ll keep working,’” Madalon said. “It was an outstanding performance. Do we expect that from Ryan week in and week out? No. Were we all wildly surprised? No. He’s a really talented guy. But he made some truly spectacular saves. We were really lucky to have him between the pipes.”

Croddick’s breakout showing was one of the major reasons Princeton escaped what at times was a rocky game. It was also a test of one of those eternal debates: Is there an advantage for a team playing its third game (as Penn State was) against a team in its first?

The Nittany Lions had extra experience after beating Colgate and Villanova. Princeton maybe had a few more surprises to unveil. But it also hadn’t worked through every detail, a common problem in early-to-mid-February.

“You get in there and you’re making some subbing mistakes and making some clearing mistakes,” Madalon said. “You’re not as organized and as clean as you thought you may be, and then every mistake you make, Penn State makes you pay for. We were a little spaced out on a set play and they got us. We [played] sloppy transition defense and they capitalized. We needed all those saves to get out of there.”

It also needed all the goals it got from two established attackmen. Coulter Mackesy scored five times and Colin Burns collected four goals, including the game-winner in overtime.

It was enough to offset a shaky day on faceoffs for the Tigers. Penn State’s Colby Baldwin won 17 of 23 draws and collected an assist as the Nittany Lions eroded Princeton’s lead in the fourth quarter.

That’s a unit Madalon believes will be better in the weeks to come. But the Tigers will need progress in many places after scheduling a more challenging opener than they have in recent seasons.

But at least they know before recent nemesis Maryland arrives at Class of 1952 Stadium on Saturday.

“Had we not won that game, it would have highlighted a lot of the things we didn’t do well,” Madalon said. “With the mature group we have, these guys came back into practice this week and understood that there were some individual efforts that put us over the edge, but that was not great team ball. And if we expect to continue to end up in the win column, we have to play a lot cleaner and a lot more disciplined.”

TOWSON SEEKS A SPARK

Consecutive losses to Johns Hopkins and Syracuse to begin the season sent Towson searching for a spark.
Sunday’s solution was moving heralded midfielder Mikey Weisshaar to attack.

The junior had three goals and two assists while taking 10 shots as Alex Roussel came off the bench and Alex Vieni drew the start in the midfield. It provided an early jolt against Navy before the Midshipmen rallied for a 14-10 victory.

“Roussel and Bode [Maurer] and Ronan [Fitzpatrick], they’re all very similar players and people weren’t too worried about us there, so we tried to flip that a little bit,” Towson coach Shawn Nadelen said. “It gets one of your best offensive players on the field a little bit more, trying to give us a little more pop, try to open things up a little bit more for us to utilize those guys that are pretty good off the ball.”

Not helping matters is the absence of injured attackman Joaquin Villagomez, who had 33 goals and 12 assists last season before getting hurt early in the CAA title game rout of Delaware.

Also a variable: Towson’s schedule. Its three opponents to date are a combined 10-1.

But the Tigers only shot 21.7 percent against Navy, and their hopes of an NCAA tournament at-large berth have already faded considerably. There’s still time to find an optimal lineup configuration prior to CAA play, and it seems Weisshaar could find himself on attack while Towson sorts things out.

“I thought it was decent, but there were definitely times we got caught watching Mikey with the ball instead of continuing to play team offense,” Nadelen said. “That’s something that’s an adjustment, but just like when he was at the midfield, we still have to play team offense.”

Numbers of Note

7

Victories in a row for Maryland against Syracuse dating back to the 2011 NCAA quarterfinals, matching Notre Dame (2019-present) for the longest winning streak against the Orange of any program in the last 45 years. Others winning streaks of at least seven games against Syracuse include Army (18 in a row from 1935-56 and 15 consecutive from 1958-73), Navy (15 in a row from 1929-79), Johns Hopkins (nine consecutive from 1930-80), Hobart (eight straight from 1972-79) and Maryland (seven in a row from 1931-79).

8

Goals for Cleveland State redshirt sophomore Xander Johnson in Tuesday’s 16-10 defeat of Bellarmine, a program record. Johnson, who also tied school records in points (eight) and shots on goal (10), surpassed the seven goals Tristan Hanna scored for the Vikings on Feb. 22, 2020.

8

Goal deficit erased by Jacksonville in Saturday’s 15-12 victory over Marist, the largest comeback in program history. The Dolphins (1-2) trailed 10-2 early in the third quarter, but rattled off 10 consecutive goals in a span of 15:53 to surge past the Red Foxes.

22

Saves for VMI’s Damian Levin in Saturday’s 14-11 victory at Mercer, the most for a Keydet goalie since Joe Riccadonna made 23 stops against Richmond on March 11, 2017. Levin has a .656 save percentage —  the fourth best in Division I — while helping VMI to a 3-1 start.