2025 College Lacrosse Season Preview: Princeton

Kicking off Friday with another season preview - the Princeton Tigers.

Let the record be known. I think it’s the year of the Ivy League, and while I said Cornell is my favorite to win it all, Princeton is officially my second favorite.

Why the tigers could win it all in 2025

Championship winning culture and a potent offense. The back-to-back Ivy League champions are bound to take another step forward on the national stage in my estimation.

Absorbing minimal losses to the offensive side in graduation, the Tigers retain both their starting attack and first line midfield.

While I said Cornell had the best attack line in the nation, the Tigers make a case. Coulter Mackesy is the star and leader of the offense. The lefty is ultra slick and will be in the Tewaaraton conversation again this season. 

Nate Kabiri is a candidate to have a massive breakout season in his sophomore year. The highly-recruited righty is a sharp shooter that can score in bunches and is a crafty righty counterpart to Mackesy.

Rounding out the unit is fellow sophomore Colin Burns. Burns is terrific off-ball. He’s super intelligent when and where he moves off-ball and buried shots at an elite 40% clip. 

While defenses put a short-stick on Burns last season at times to double pole the midfield, he showed he was more than capable of attacking to the cage, making defensive coordinators second guess that decision. 

At the midfield, junior Chad Palumbo had a breakout year and is a crafty shooter and finisher. He’s also super tough to stop when playing in the pick game with Mackesy.

Tucker Wade burst onto the scene last season as a freshman with his two-handed dodging ability while senior Sean Cameron is a speedy righty midfielder and is at his best shooting while on the move or from the low right wing.

Junior John Dunphey will lead the second line midfield along with Quinn Krammer, and look for freshmen Peter Buonanno, Aidan McDonald and Cody Lam to be options here as well.

Buonanno in particular could be a game-changer. The lefty has shades of Ryder Garnsey in his game and is ultra confident as a dodger. He’ll make some eye-popping plays for the Tigers this season and could even push for a starting attack spot.

This Princeton defense also has a chance to be elite.

First Team All-Ivy defender in 2024 Colin Mulshine leads the close defense and he will be flanked by returners Michael Bath and Cooper Kistler. Also look for freshman Finn Fox and sophomore Hunter Speiss to get some run here as well.

At LSM, while the graduation of Pace Billings hurts, lefty Canadian Nick Crowley returns and will likely be joined by one of the close defenders not in the rotation in Fox or Speiss, or even Bath could slide up from his starting defense spot.

The defensive midfield position loses Marquez White and injured seniors Paul Weatherington and Joe Juengerkes, but Liam Fairback, Michael Kelly and Cooper Mueller return. I think freshman Isaac Cruz’s athletic ability will help him get on to the field early too, whether with this unit or as an offensive midfielder.

The faceoff position is in good hands with junior Andrew McMeekin becoming a premiere offensive-minded faceoff man in the nation, scoring 8 goals in 2024.

Biggest Question Marks

who starts at goalie?

Long-time starter Michael Gianforcaro is now at UNC. Princeton only has three goalies on the roster, and only junior Ryan Croddick has seen game experience for the Tigers. So out of Croddick, sophomore Colin Vickrey and freshman Carter Johnson, one needs to step up. 

which young guns step up?

It’s no secret that Princeton’s recruiting classes the past two years have rivaled that of ACC or Big Ten teams. The question is - which young players will burst onto the scene? Burns, Kabiri and Wade all stepped up as freshman - who will that be this year? Likely candidates include Buonanno on the offensive side and Fox on the defensive side. But guys like Cruz and McDonald could also make noise in their rookie years. And while we live in a day in age where highly-recruited freshmen are expected to step up and be producers immediately, sophomores like Carson Krammer, Mark Marino, Jacob Todd and Brody Upton may have needed a year to develop, as was the case with Palumbo.

Final Thoughts

Princeton has a borderline elite starting attack, midfield, faceoff man, and close defense. The goalie position is easily the biggest question mark, and could ultimately decide whether this team is championship worthy or not. And again, like with all teams, Princeton will need some ‘unknowns’ to step up into secondary roles, particularly at LSM, SSDM, and second line midfield.

With this team looking towards Championship weekend, don’t underestimate the impact of playing in the Final Four had on seniors Mackesy, Cameron and Mulshine, who have a glimpse of what it takes to reach the top.

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