Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/17/26
From Press Release
A full year of frustration, exactly 365 days of frustration, hovered over the Princeton men’s lacrosse team. And now history was 14 minutes away from repeating itself.
What did the Princeton men’s lacrosse team have to say about that? No chance.
Princeton, down by one early in the fourth quarter in its NCAA quarterfinal against Penn State on a sweltering day at Delaware Stadium, ripped off the final five goals of the day, taking down the Nittany Lions 14-10 to reach the Final Four for the 12th time in program history and second time in five years.
Top-seeded Princeton will play in the national semifinals against Duke at Scott Stadium at the University of Virginia this coming Saturday, while Syracuse and Notre Dame will meet in the other semifinal.
The win over Penn State came one year to the day when Princeton fell 19-18 to Syracuse in this same round, something that the Tigers have had to sit on for all this time. They weren’t about to let it happen again.
If there was a star, though, it was Andrew McMeekin (Episcopal Academy), who completely dominated Penn State’s 1-2 combination of Colby Baldwin and Reid Gills at the face-off X. Penn State came into the game fifth in Division I at .601 for the year; McMeekin put up a 19 for 26 day with 12 groundballs and a killer goal to put the Tigers up by two again in the fourth.
Bang. Quinn Krammer finished a perfect fast break that started with Jackson Green’s third caused turnover of the day and ended with a feed from Chad Palumbo. Tie game, 10-10.
Bang bang. Two goals in five seconds, the first a John Dunphey rip as the shot clock expired, the second a McMeekin goal after yet another face-off win. Princeton 12-10 with 6:38 to go.
A little more than a minute later, Tucker Wade struck again — for the fourth time — making it 13-10. Cooper Mueller sealed it with 56 seconds to go. Tiger win. Ghosts exorcised.
Princeton was playing a Penn State team that ruined opening day back in February with a 13-7 win at Sherrerd Field. This game was played in temps 50 degrees warmer, and it was back and forth one for three quarters and one minute.
Penn State went up 2-0. Princeton led 6-4. It was 6-6 at the half; 9-9 after three; 10-9 Nittany Lions with those 14 minutes to go. And then it was all out Tigers from there.
Palumbo had a 3G, 2A afternoon, giving him 101 goals for his career. Wade had his four, but this was a game that needed everyone.
Parker Reynolds had a goal and two huge assists to Wade. Jake Vana and Porter Malkiel had huge goals in the second midfield. Eight Tigers had one goal. Defensive depth was huge.
For Penn State, Chase Robertson had three goals and Kyle Lehman (Wissahickon) had two goals and an assist.
The IWLCA has honored 256 student-athletes in Division III with a selection to one of the All-Region teams for 2026. These student-athletes are now eligible to be named to a national IWLCA All-American team. The IWLCA will announce the 2026 IWLCA Division III All-American teams on May 22.
