In front of a packed house Saturday evening at Sherrerd Field, No. 21 Princeton men’s lacrosse (8–4 overall, 3–2 Ivy League) took down No. 12 Penn (8–5, 4–2) with a score of 15–10 on senior night.
“Coming off the loss to Brown last week, we all knew that we didn’t play our brand of lacrosse. We made sure to have a great, tough week of practice and emphasized starting games hot,” first-year attacker Nate Kabiri told The Daily Princetonian.
The first quarter began quietly. Although each team saw offensive opportunities, the first goal was not scored until ten minutes into the game. Princeton first-year attacker Colin Burns broke the ice to put the Tigers up 1–0, tallying his 20th goal of the season.
The scoring continued shortly after, as Kabiri scored his 28th goal of the season to double the Tigers’ lead.
Burns and Kabiri have both eclipsed the 20 goal mark, making the attacking duo the second set of first-years in Princeton history to each score over 20 goals in a season. Before Burns and Kabiri, this feat was achieved in 1995 by Chris Massey and Jesse Hubbard.
The Quakers then responded with two goals of their own. With the first period of play nearly over, the match was tied at two goals apiece. Before the end of the quarter, Princeton netted another goal, courtesy of senior midfielder Tommy Barnds, to put Princeton back on top, 3–2.
Three minutes into the second quarter, Penn scored again, tying the game at 3–3. But quickly taking back the momentum, sophomore face-off specialist Andrew McMeekin netted his first goal of the game to make the score 4–3.
From here, the Tigers did not look back.
Princeton scored three goals in less than two minutes, each from different players. Sophomore attacker Chad Palumbo, senior attacker Coulter Mackesy, and McMeekin all put points on the board for the Tigers. Princeton led 7–3 with six minutes to go in the half.
Junior midfielder Sean Cameron scored an additional goal for Princeton, extending their lead to 8–3. Shortly after, though, Penn scored only their second goal of the quarter, making the score 8–4 heading into halftime.
The break did not halt the Tigers’ momentum, as Barnds scored his second goal of the game early in the third quarter, and Princeton led 9–4. The Quakers scored next, starting a series of back and forth goals. Two minutes later, sophomore midfielder John Dunphey scored for Princeton, assisted by Kabiri. Penn netted another goal, but this was combated by a score from senior attacker Lukas Stanat. By the end of this run, Princeton led 11–6.
Entering the final quarter of play, Mackesy scored his second goal of the game, assisted by Palumbo, to put the Tigers up 12–7.
Scoring back to back goals, Penn shortened the deficit to three, still trailing 12–9. Stanat scored quickly after for the Tigers, extending their lead back to 13–9.
The remainder of the game was defensive. Princeton’s defensive front was led by senior goalie Michael Gianforcaro, who had 15 saves in the match.
The Quakers scored with their last goal with four minutes left in the game, making the score 13–10.
Gianforcaro was not only a defensive asset, though, as he netted Princeton’s next goal on a highlight-reel-worthy backhanded goal. The Tigers led 14–10.
“I was pretty relieved the goal went in,” Gianforcaro joked, “Otherwise, it would have been a pretty rough Monday film session.”
Solidifying their win, Kabiri scored in the last minute of play for the final score, 15–10.
3:46 Q4 │ BACKHANDED GOALIE GOAL ON SENIOR DAY FOR MIKEY G OH MY GOODNESS@SPORTSCETNER #SCTOP10 pic.twitter.com/d0spQa8PSU
— Princeton Men's Lacrosse (@TigerLacrosse) April 20, 2024
Princeton will play their last regular season game away at No. 10 Yale (11–2, 4–1) on Saturday, April 27 at 12:00 p.m. A Princeton victory will secure the Tigers a place in the Ivy League tournament.
“We had a great game against Penn, but it was far from perfect,” Gianforcaro told the ‘Prince.’ “We can’t let the success cloud the fact that things need to be improved. Fixing mistakes and coming out hot will be the emphasis all week.”
Lily Pampolina is a Sports contributor and contributing Audience creator for the ‘Prince.’
Please send corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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