Princeton Making Late Surge in USA Lacrosse Division I Men's Top 20

It’s felt like the postseason for a couple weeks at Princeton, and maybe that is helping the Tigers out.

Coming off back-to-back victories over Penn and Yale, the Tigers have surged from a question to even make the Ivy League tournament to the conference’s No. 2 seed and a threat to make their third consecutive NCAA tournament.

“Unfortunately, the same thing happened last year,” Princeton goalie Michael Gianforcaro said last week. “We were playing playoff lacrosse in the regular season, and we took care of business then. That’s kind of our mantra now. We’re in playoff lacrosse, and days together are numbered, and we’re not guaranteed many more practices. Any time we go out and get a win, it’s just more days we can be together.”

Back in the preseason, it felt like pegging the Tigers as the nation’s No. 14 team was a bit generous — at least based on how things would look in February. But there was always the potential Princeton could exceed that projection if it matured quickly and caught fire like it did in 2022, when it ended an 18-year NCAA semifinal drought, and last year when it claimed a surprise Ivy League tournament title.

The question always was whether Matt Madalon’s team would figure it out in time. Saturday’s 15-8 drubbing of Yale on the road suggests the Tigers are playing their best as May approaches.

USA LACROSSE DIVISION I
MEN’S TOP 20

1. Notre Dame, 10-1 (Prev: 1)
2. Johns Hopkins, 10-3 (Prev: 3)
3. Denver, 11-2 (Prev: 4)
4. Maryland, 8-4 (Prev: 6)
5. Penn State, 10-3 (Prev: 7)
6. Syracuse, 11-4 (Prev: 8)
7. Duke, 11-4 (Prev: 2)
8. Virginia, 10-4 (Prev: 5)
9. Georgetown, 10-3 (Prev: 10)
10. Cornell, 9-4 (Prev: 11)
11. Princeton, 9-4 (Prev: 14)
12. Yale, 11-3 (Prev: 9)
13. Army, 11-2 (Prev: 12)
14. Towson, 11-3 (Prev: 15)
15. Saint Joseph’s, 10-3 (Prev: 16)
16. Penn, 8-5 (Prev: 17)
17. Richmond, 9-5 (Prev: 13)
18. Michigan, 8-6 (Prev: 20)
19. Delaware, 8-4 (Prev: 18)
20. North Carolina, 7-7 (Prev: NR)

Also considered (alphabetical order): Boston U (8-6), Colgate (8-6), Harvard (8-5), High Point (9-6), Jacksonville (11-4), Lehigh (8-6), Loyola (7-7), Utah (10-4)

HOT

Princeton (+3)

The Tigers have figured things out since a mid-April loss at Brown — a defeat that severely dinged their at-large chances — and now get a second shot at Yale in a seven-day span. Princeton, it turned out, could have gotten into the Ivy tournament without trouncing the Bulldogs since Harvard defeated Brown later Saturday. There’s still plenty of value in handling business without anyone’s help.

Princeton’s defense ranks alongside Penn as the most sound in the Ivy League, Gianforcaro is one of the country’s best goalies, Andrew McMeekin (20 of 26) had a stellar Saturday at the X and an offense paced by Coulter Mackesy (34 goals, 18 assist) is just one Chad Palumbo score away from having four 20-goal scorers. The Tigers are making a push when it matters most.

NOT

Duke (-5)

If someone can offer a logical explanation for the Blue Devils’ inconsistencies, go ahead. Was Duke simply rusty after going 13 days between its impressive defeat of Virginia and what turned out to be a more-lopsided-than-the-final-score-indicated 15-12 loss at North Carolina? Was it more a function of the short-handed Tar Heels breathing fire? And is erratic play just baked into the cake?

If there is a short-term bit of encouragement, it’s that the Blue Devils responded impressively to their first three losses. Two days after losing to Penn, they ripped Princeton 17-8. Four days after an anemic 10-4 setback at Syracuse, Duke smothered Denver 11-7. And a three-goal loss at home was followed a week later with an 18-12 defeat of Virginia. Something to keep in mind heading into an ACC semifinal showdown with Syracuse.

Richmond (-4)

A minor slide for the Spiders, who dropped a 10-9 decision to Saint Joseph’s at home to close the regular season. Richmond’s five losses have come against teams ranked Nos. 4, 8, 7, 9 and 15 in this week’s rankings, and its most notable victory came earlier this month against High Point.

Based on a full regular season, Richmond fairly sits at the back end of the Top 20 — right around where it started.

Virginia (-3)

The Cavaliers have dropped three in a row for the first time since 2014 (and for the first time under Lars Tiffany) after dropping an 11-9 decision to Notre Dame, and they’ll face the Fighting Irish again on Friday in the ACC semifinals. So, is it nearing panic time in Charlottesville?

No, but improvement is needed as the calendar flips to May. More importantly, it’s worth assessing what, exactly, Virginia has accomplished to this point. The mid-March victory at Maryland was a methodical showing. Defeats of Michigan and Towson have value, too. But it isn’t an overpowering resume, and it leaves the Cavaliers vulnerable to an unwelcome NCAA tournament seeding situation if they can’t do damage in the ACC tournament.

Yale (-3)

The Bulldogs were held to less than 10 goals for the first time since the 2022 Ivy League title game in Saturday’s 15-8 loss to Princeton. It was also Yale’s lowest output at home since a 9-8 midweek loss to Bucknell in April 2018. So, let’s go ahead and chalk up the Bulldogs’ offensive output (which was influenced to some degree by possession time) as an outlier.

But Yale still has an immediate problem, and it is called Princeton. The Tigers have taken four in a row in the series (2022 NCAA quarterfinals, 2023 and 2024 regular season and 2023 Ivy League final) by an average of 8.25 goals. Why is the problem immediate? The Bulldogs face Princeton in Friday’s Ivy semifinals in Ithaca, N.Y.

IN

North Carolina (No. 20)

It wasn’t just that the Tar Heels defeated Duke 15-12. It was how they did it. They didn’t have freshman star Owen Duffy, among others. They hadn’t won in more than a month, dropping five in a row. And they obliterated the middle two quarters, opening up a 15-6 lead behind Dominic Pietramala (four goals, one assist), Logan McGovern (three goals, four assists) and Brady Wambach (two goals, 16 of 24 faceoffs).

It wasn’t enough to extend the Tar Heels’ season — the combination of Duke’s belated six-goal run and Virginia’s loss to Notre Dame meant North Carolina ended up on the wrong end of a goal differential tiebreaker to make the ACC tournament. But it still was enough to push Joe Breschi’s bunch back into this week’s Top 20.

OUT

Colgate (was No. 19)

The Raiders seemed on their way to a blowout victory on the final day of the Patriot League regular season, scoring 10 goals in less than 19 minutes to build an eight-goal lead over Boston U. But the Terriers worked their way back and escaped with a 13-12 victory.

Colgate gets an immediate rematch, going to Boston U for a Patriot League quarterfinal on Tuesday.