Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/1/26
Staff Report
Ryan Croddick made one save, no make that two saves, no wait, another one? Three saves? Bang, bang, bang? With the score tied against the No. 1 team in the country and with less than five minutes to go?
The reality is that this was Ryan Croddick’s weekend. Nobody was going to take it away from him.
Croddick, the Princeton senior goalie, made a career-high 25 saves, including three extraordinary ones in five seconds late in the fourth quarter, to lead No. 7 Tigers to a thrilling 11-9 win over No. 1 North Carolina in front of 2,404 fans at Sherrerd Field Sunday afternoon. The 25 saves were not only a career-high but also the most by a Princeton goalie since 1985.
The win completed a weekend sweep for the Tigers at the ACC/Ivy League Challenge, after taking down No. 6 Syracuse 11-7 Friday night. It also completed an extraordinary stretch for Princeton, which defeated Maryland last Saturday, giving the Tigers three wins in nine days against teams that have already been ranked No. 1 this season.
Speaking of extraordinary, Croddick’s weekend consisted of 39 saves and 16 goals against, while facing two of the top offenses in the country. That’s a .709 save percentage.
Cooper Mueller (Radnor) had two groundballs at short stick defensive midfield for the Tigers, while Andrew McMeekin (Episcopal Academy) won 6 of 16 faceoffs and Russ Fitzgerald (Flourtown/Taft School-CT) won 4 of 7 faceoffs.
Princeton, now 3-1 after its third straight win following an opening day loss to Penn State, led for most of the game against the Tar Heels (5-1), twice building three-goal leads and entering the fourth quarter up 8-6. UNC, though, scored early in the fourth and then twice in less than a minute midway through to take its first lead of the day. It would not last.
First, Peter Buonanno tied it with 8:14 to go. Then Croddick, who was obviously spectacular all weekend, saved his best for next, robbing Dom Pietramala once, and then again, and then somehow another one on another rebound, this one from Luke Bair. The total distance from the goal on those three shots combined was maybe 10 yards.
Tucker Wade then put the Tigers back on top 10-9 with 3:56 to go, and that lead became 11-9 with 2:38 to go when Nate Kabiri (3G, 3A) scored from Colin Burns (4G, 1A).
Croddick wasn’t done yet, though. He stepped into the passing lane on UNC’s next possession for a caused turnover, and he made one final save with 30 seconds left to end any hope of a miracle comeback.
