The second round of the men’s lacrosse NCAA Tournament is approaching. No. 8 Penn State will face No. 1 Princeton in the quarterfinals, a rematch from earlier in the season. The last time these two teams met, the Nittany Lions won 13-7.

After winning the Big Ten Championship and the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Penn State has carried strong momentum into round two.

This season, Penn State has won five out of the six games against top-10 teams. The Nittany Lions bring a competitive edge when facing stronger opponents. But, despite beating Princeton this season, Penn State does not have an easy path to the semifinals.

The Team

Currently on a nine-game win streak, Princeton holds a 14-2 record and finished 7-1 in the Ivy League. Like Penn State, the Tigers capped their regular season with a conference tournament win, beating Cornell 19-9.

Princeton’s head coach, Matt Madalon, is in his 11th season with the Tigers and his 10th full season at the helm. He has a total record of 88-42 and has won three Ivy League Tournament Championships with Princeton.

Assistant coach Casey Dowd also brings a ton of experience. He started his career as an offensive coordinator at Mercyhurst University and later spent seven years as the assistant head coach at Colby College. He came to Princeton in 2024 and has played a key role in coaching faceoffs.

Offensive coordinator Jim Mitchell is in his fifth season with the Tigers after coaching for five previous collegiate teams. He has helped Princeton become more efficient on offense, having coached three of the top seven scoring offenses in program history.

Defensive coordinator Jeremy Hirsch is in his eighth season with Princeton after coaching for three previous collegiate teams. He has led Princeton to a top defense in the Ivy League since his arrival.

The Offense

Princeton’s only game this season in which the offense scored fewer than 10 goals was its first against Penn State. The Tigers lead all Ivy League teams in goals per game, assists per game, and points per game this season.

Chad Palumbo leads the team in goals with 42 this season. The second-year attackman out of Providence, Rhode Island, has played and scored in every game this season. Palumbo was named to the All-Ivy First Team and the All-America Third Team.

Along with Palumbo, attackman Nate Kabiri, and midfielder Tucker Wade were named to the All-Ivy First Team and the All-America First Team. Kabiri has 35 goals and 41 assists this season, and Wade has 31 goals and eight assists.

The team’s accuracy is a key factor in the team’s high-scoring season. The top five scorers for Princeton have above a .500 shot on goal percentage this season. Nittany Lion goalie Preston Hawkins has another big day ahead of him in goal.

Three players have over 30 goals this season, which is more than any Penn State player has. Hunter Aquino leads the Nittany Lions with 26 goals and has scored a combined 12 in the last four games.

Princeton will have to go against Penn State’s dominant defense and standout defender Alex Ross. Ross leads Penn State with 21 caused turnovers this season and was named to the First Team All-Big Ten.

The Defense

Princeton’s defense has been consistent this season as well, with nine of the Tigers’ opponents scoring fewer than 10 goals.

Princeton had a total of 141 caused turnovers, 558 ground balls, and a .871 clear percentage this year. They beat out their opponents in caused turnovers and ground balls, but not in clear percentage.

Penn State has been held to fewer than 10 goals only three times this season. Aquino leads the Nittany Lions’ offense with 26 goals this season despite missing six weeks. He had three against Army last Saturday, which was the most of any player on both teams.

Princeton has plenty of talented defenders on its roster this season to try to slow down the Penn State attack.

Defenseman Jack Stahl, SSDM Cooper Meuller, and goalkeeper Ryan Croddick were all named to the All-Ivy First Team. Stahl was also named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, and Croddick was named the Ivy League Goaltender of the Year.

Additionally, Croddick made the All-America First Team, Stahl made the All-America Second Team, and Mueller made the All-America Third Team.

The Tigers’ overall talent and goal-scoring abilities will be prepared to get revenge on the Nittany Lions in the quarterfinals.