Princeton Defeats Notre Dame 16-9 to Claim First NCAA Men's Lacrosse Title in 25 Years

The atmosphere at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia, was thick with humidity and history on Memorial Day. A crowd of 24,061 gathered to watch the top-seeded Princeton Tigers clash with the second-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish for the 2026 NCAA Men's Lacrosse National Championship. The venue itself was a pivot—moved from Gillette Stadium due to 2026 FIFA World Cup preparations—but the stakes were timeless. Notre Dame was hunting for its third national title in four years, a modern dynasty in the making. Princeton, meanwhile, was chasing ghosts, looking to end a 25-year drought that stretched back to 2001.[1][5]

The game began looking like a coronation for the Fighting Irish. Within the first five minutes, Notre Dame's offense clicked with ruthless efficiency. Josh Yago found the slot to open the scoring, and shortly after, the Irish capitalized on a man-up opportunity. By the 4:49 mark of the first quarter, Notre Dame had surged to a 3-0 lead. For a Princeton team that had steamrolled opponents all season, the early deficit felt like a shocking reality check against a battle-tested championship program.[2][6]

But lacrosse is a game of momentum, and what followed was one of the most breathtaking avalanches in NCAA championship history. Rather than panic, Princeton leaned on its foundational strengths: dominance at the faceoff X and relentless ground-ball pursuit. Andrew McMeekin took over the faceoff stripe, repeatedly securing possession for the Tigers. This sparked a transition game that Notre Dame simply could not contain, completely flipping the script of the first quarter.[1][4]

The Tigers rattled off three consecutive goals to tie the game by the end of the first quarter, sending the Princeton faithful into a frenzy. The stadium speakers—and the raucous crowd—began blaring the team's unofficial anthem, "Hey Baby," a song that would become the soundtrack of the afternoon. But the first-quarter equalizer was merely a prelude to the second-quarter onslaught.[2]

In the second frame, Princeton unleashed an astonishing eight unanswered goals. The offense was a symphony of slick passing and aggressive dodging. Chad Palumbo, who would finish with a game-high four goals and an assist, delivered a series of punishing dodges that left Notre Dame's defense reeling. Colin Burns added a hat trick, while Tucker Wade and Quinn Krammer chipped in with multi-point efforts. By the time the halftime whistle blew, a 3-0 deficit had been transformed into an 11-3 Princeton lead.[1][2][4]

The statistics behind the 11-0 run were staggering. Princeton held a 29-11 ground ball advantage in the first half, including an 18-3 margin in the opening quarter alone. Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan later admitted that his team was simply outworked during that decisive stretch, unable to secure the loose balls necessary to stop the bleeding. The eight-goal halftime margin was the second-largest in NCAA title game history, trailing only the 1977 final.[1]

In a twist of poetic timing, the halftime ceremony featured the honoring of Princeton's 2001 national championship team—the last group of Tigers to hoist the trophy—celebrating their 25th anniversary. As the alumni waved to the crowd, the 2026 squad was in the locker room sitting on a commanding lead, seemingly destined to join their predecessors in the program's pantheon. Head coach Matt Madalon had spent all season talking about "forever teams," and his squad was 30 minutes away from achieving that exact immortality.[1][2]

Notre Dame, however, refused to go quietly. The Irish defense stiffened in the third quarter, anchored by a heroic performance from goaltender Thomas Ricciardelli. Facing a relentless barrage of Princeton shots, Ricciardelli made an astounding 19 saves—the most by any goalie in an NCAA final since Johns Hopkins' Michael Gvozden recorded 20 in 2008. His efforts between the pipes kept the Irish within striking distance, allowing them to twice cut the deficit to five goals in the second half.[1][5]

Offensively, Notre Dame leaned on Will Angrick and Josh Yago, who each tallied two goals and an assist, while Luke Miller continually tested the Princeton defense. But every time the Irish threatened to make it a one-possession game, Princeton's defense, led by goaltender Ryan Croddick, slammed the door. Croddick, who was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, finished with 13 crucial saves, neutralizing Notre Dame's shooters during high-leverage moments.[1][4]

Even when Notre Dame managed to draw penalties—including a pair of non-releasable cross-checks—Princeton's man-down unit held firm. Palumbo even managed to score a backbreaking man-down goal, wiggling his hips to get underneath a defensive check and firing a shot past Ricciardelli. It was a sequence that encapsulated Princeton's afternoon: relentless, opportunistic, and utterly dominant.[1][6]

As the clock ticked under two minutes, the outcome was no longer in doubt. The Princeton section of Scott Stadium erupted into one final chorus of "Hey Baby," counting down the seconds to a 16-9 victory. Sticks flew into the Virginia sky, and the Tigers rushed the field to celebrate their seventh national championship, ending a quarter-century wait that tied for the fourth-longest championship gap in tournament history.[1][2]

The victory capped off a banner year not just for Princeton, but for the Ivy League as a whole. The conference earned three NCAA tournament berths in 2026, with Princeton, Cornell, and Yale all making deep runs. The Tigers' championship run validated the league's resurgence as a premier power in collegiate lacrosse, proving that the Ivy League's blend of academic rigor and elite athletics can still conquer the sport's highest peaks.[4]

Beyond the field, the 2026 championship weekend was a monumental success for the sport's visibility. Monday's final drew 778,000 viewers on ESPN, making it the most-watched men's lacrosse championship in 19 years. The broadcast delivered a 37 percent increase in viewership compared to the 2025 final, while the overall men's tournament saw a 31 percent year-over-year bump.[3]

This surge in viewership, combined with the launch of the Premier Lacrosse League's 2026 season just weeks prior, signals a golden era of growth for lacrosse. The sport is capturing a broader national audience, driven by high-scoring offenses, elite athleticism, and compelling storylines like Princeton's 25-year redemption arc. As the Tigers carry the trophy back to New Jersey, they do so not just as champions, but as the face of a sport that has never been more popular.[3][5]