After Saturday afternoon, it’s clear that Maryland has Princeton’s number.
The No. 2 Terrapins (4–0 overall, 0–0 Big Ten) have now won nine games in a row against the No. 5 Tigers (1–1, 0–0 Ivy League), including two NCAA tournament wins. The rivalry between the sides intensified after the Terps beat the Tigers in the 2022 NCAA tournament semifinal 13–8.
“[Maryland’s] just a team that doesn’t make a lot of mistakes,” Head Coach Matt Madalon told The Daily Princetonian postgame. “They were really able to capitalize on every little deficiency.”
Despite a strong start from the Orange and Black, the 12-time national champions quickly rebounded en route to a 13–9 win in front of a packed crowd at Sherrerd Field. The Terps dominated possession and had a perfect defensive game plan that included a 24-minute Tigers scoring drought.
After Maryland won the opening face-off and scored during its first possession, Princeton quickly bounced back. Senior attacker Coulter Mackesy scored and assisted as the Tigers ripped away three consecutive goals in under 90 seconds to take a 3–1 lead.
“Give Princeton credit, they came out, they executed, they were just a step faster,” Maryland Head Coach John Tillman told the ‘Prince’ postgame, referring to Princeton’s strong start.
Both sides exchanged scores as Mackesy scored his second of the game. The senior scored three goals on Saturday, placing him one in all-time goals behind Mike MacDonald ’15, who scored 132 goals.
Princeton’s strength in the first quarter came as a result of the face-off. The Tigers won the first five of the six face-off chances, courtesy of junior face-off Andrew McMeekin.
“I thought McMeekin really kind of was taking it to us a little bit, and our guys responded — which was great for us — and then we just kind of settled in,” Tillman said.
Unfortunately for Madalon’s squad, a scoring drought of nearly 25 minutes began after Mackesy’s goal. The Terps controlled all facets of the game and went on a 6–0 run that saw them take an 8–4 advantage to the locker room.
“I thought our scout team did an awesome job,” Tillman noted. “And then I think defensively, we got some good stops when we didn’t play as well as we like.”
Coming out of halftime, the Tigers ended their scoring drought with back-to-back goals from sophomore attackers Colin Burns and Nate Kabiri, quickly cutting their four-goal deficit in half just a few minutes into the third quarter.
After McMeekin won the face-off, the Tigers looked to cut the deficit to one, ripping away seven shots toward the Maryland goal. However, none were able to find the back of the net. Maryland capitalized on Princeton’s missed opportunity and restored their four-goal halftime margin by the end of the third quarter, taking a 10–6 lead.
Terps goaltender Logan McNaney was brilliant, notching 12 saves throughout the contest and holding the Tigers to a 19 percent shot-to-goal rate, which stood in contrast to Maryland’s much more efficient 31 percent.
“We just weren’t getting shots by that guy,” Madalon said.
Princeton managed to find the back of the net three times in the fourth quarter, but Maryland always had an answer.
With four minutes to play, Mackesy ignited the hopes of the Princeton faithful by cutting the Terrapin lead to four, 12–8. His goal capped off a three-goal, one-assist performance.
However, Maryland quickly answered on the ensuing possession, earning a five-goal lead that proved too difficult to overcome in the final few minutes of play.
After a consolation goal from Kabiri with under a minute to go, Maryland pulled out a gutsy 13–9 victory at Sherrerd Field. Junior goaltender Ryan Croddick made 13 saves for the Tigers after a dominant 22-save performance against Penn State last weekend.
Despite a strong start by McMeekin, the Terps went on to win 15 of the next 20 face-offs. In addition, the visitors had 34 ground balls compared to 29 from Princeton. These are areas that Princeton will need to improve on if they want to knock off quality opponents in the future.
For Princeton, the schedule doesn’t get any easier. The Orange and Black will travel to the Tar Heel state to face off at No. 7 ranked Duke (4–0, 0–0 ACC) on Friday, Feb. 28, followed by a Sunday afternoon showdown with No. 9 ranked North Carolina (3–0, 0–0 ACC) in Chapel Hill.
“For us, it’s just getting back to work, try to play cleaner, [and have] a more system-based approach,” Madalon told the ‘Prince.’
The Tigers will have an opportunity to put that mindset into action against two top-10 opponents next weekend.
Hayk Yengibaryan is an associate News editor, senior Sports writer, and Education Director for the ‘Prince.’
Lucas Nor is a Sports contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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