The Post-Week Tailgate: April 28, 2024

It was far from a shock that Princeton beat Yale yesterday, but few would’ve expected the margin to be what it was – seven goals. Fewer still would’ve expected this result after the Tigers fell to Brown two weeks ago.

Princeton has bounced back with two of its best games of the season – beating rival Penn, 15-10, last week and then following it up with a 15-8 win over Yale.

Michael Gianforcaro has been terrific in goal, combining for 31 saves the last two games, and Coulter Mackesy matched his season-high with five goals against Yale. They are two of the veteran leaders that have helped Princeton come together, earning the No. 2 seed in the Ivy League tournament.

But the younger players on this team are making their presence felt. Eleven of Princeton’s 21 players in its regular rotation are freshmen or sophomores.

Freshmen – and former high school teammates – Nate Kabiri (20) and Colin Burns (19) rank second and third on the team in goals. Sophomore Chad Palumbo is tied with Burns for third on the team in scoring with 29 points. Sophomore Andrew McMeekin is winning 55 percent of his faceoffs and is coming off of a 20 of 26 performance against Yale.

It’s amazing to think what this Princeton team could be if they had the benefit of fifth-years like so many teams around the country coming out of the COVID pandemic.

Former Tigers Sam English and Jake Stevens have helped ignite Syracuse’s turnaround with a combined 53 points in a different shade of orange. Alexander Vardaro has 26 goals for Georgetown; Beau Pederson, Cathal Roberts and Christian Ronda are all playing key roles for Michigan.

Other talented players have left as well, making the job Matt Madalon has done something to tip your cap to. The Tigers get Yale again in the semifinal round as they begin a quest to win the school's first Ivy League title since 2015.

Random Observations

Delaware hasn’t gotten great seeds for the NCAA tournament, but they’ve been a team no one wants to play. The Blue Hens led Duke in the fourth quarter before losing by one in the NCAA first round last year. The year before they upset No. 2 seed Georgetown in the first round before taking Cornell to the wire in the quarterfinals.

Could the mantle have switched to a different CAA team this year? Towson edged Delaware on Friday night to wrap up the CAA’s No. 1 seed. 

The Tigers have non-league wins over Navy and Saint Joseph’s – good wins, but not wins to get you a seed if you make it to the NCAA tournament. The Tigers hung around with Johns Hopkins and Virginia for most of the game in two of their three losses this year and the other came in overtime to Loyola. Towson hasn’t lost since its UVa loss on March 9, stringing together seven straight wins. They still have work to do to win the conference title, but Towson could very easily be a team no one wants to see on their bracket line when the NCAA tournament field is announced next week.

Army can charge whatever it wants for admission to the Patriot League tournament – it’ll be worth the price. (Note: They're only charging 12 bucks). Two weeks ago there was a six-way tie for first place. Last week it was four teams. When the dust finally settled, Army and Lehigh each went 6-2 in league play while Boston U, Colgate, Loyola and Navy each went 5-3.

Loyola would’ve been the No. 1 seed with a win over Army on Friday night, but the Black Knights broke a 10-10 tie in the final quarter to win 13-11 and the Greyhounds fell all the way to the No. 6 seed.

Colgate appeared on its way to a first-round bye with a 10-4 halftime lead on Boston University, but the Terriers rallied like crazy, including the final four goals of the game to win 13-12 to set up a rematch in Boston.

Navy needed overtime, but got past Bucknell 13-12 in its final game to earn a home game against Loyola.

The margins are razor thin in the Patriot League and you can bet a show is ready to be put on at Army this coming weekend.

UAlbany began the season 0-4, but will host the America East tournament after clinching its first regular season title since 2018 with an 18-10 win over Binghamton on Saturday. The Great Danes (7-7) have suffered four one-goal losses against a challenging schedule, but could be poised for something big.

Its America East opener will be intriguing. UAlbany hosts Merrimack on Thursday in the semifinals. A week ago, UAlbany beat Merrimack 14-8 and subsequently Merrimack had a player removed from the team for racist remarks towards a UAlbany player and on Saturday, Merrimack announced the resignation of longtime head coach Mike Morgan after the team had upset Bryant to qualify for the America East tournament.

By the Numbers

92 • Combined points for Lehigh grad transfers Christian Mule’ and Justin Tiernan. Mule’ is third on Syracuse in scoring with 42 points (25g, 17a) and Tiernan set Michigan’s single-season school record with 47 goals.

6 • Number of times that Princeton has scored exactly 15 goals in a game this season.

3 • Consecutive losses for Virginia after Notre Dame beat the Cavaliers 11-9 on Saturday. The Cavaliers last lost three in a row in 2014.

274 • Notre Dame school record career points scored by Pat Kavanagh. Kavanagh had two goals and two assists in the win over Virginia.

11 • Number of regular season games played by Notre Dame this year, fewest in the country. Several teams have played 15, including ACC foes Duke and Syracuse.

9:15 pm: Local start time for Denver hosting Marquette on Friday night following more than two hours of lightning delays. The Pioneers won 15-9 for their fifth straight victory. The following day, Denver’s women’s team had a home game wiped out for snow against Xavier.

NEW RECORD: 142 lightning strikes within 8 miles, including these ones. Clock reset to 30. #GoPios pic.twitter.com/zEgCoucKUW

— Denver Men’s Lacrosse (@DU_MLAX) April 27, 2024

4 • Number of conference tournament games this week that will be rematches of games just played: Notre Dame – Virginia in the ACC, Vermont – UMBC in America East, Princeton – Yale in the Ivy League and Boston University – Colgate in the Patriot League.

4 • Consecutive wins for Michigan over its rival Ohio State. Back-to-back wins over the Buckeyes last year helped propel the Wolverines to the Big Ten championship last year and Michigan will look to maintain the momentum again this year.