Princeton Gameday...

[FloridaCuse]

Kyle's POTG:

Entire Princeton D.

Was it the Princeton D or our inept O?

 

[FloridaCuse]

Yes, we are in fact a top 20 team, y'all really know how to overreacte today was bad, but considering St Joe's, who lost to us by 18 are ranked, we are a top 20 team, probably even a top 10 team.

I'll compromise at top 15. We're not a top 10 team right now.

 

[W'boro'Cuse315]

 

[Dinkyspond]

Disappointing result, I’m pretty hard on McCool but he’s still a pretty good player he’s just not all that great either like I wanted him to be unfortunately.

Could see a nice bounce back win against Penn but at this point, I won’t be satisfied at all from a win next week. Hoping we can string together a nasty win streak

I was hoping for 4-2 in these 6 road games, now we need 4 in a row, still doable.

 

[orange79]

Was it the Princeton D or our inept O?

Yes?

 

[Lax Mouse]

I'll compromise at top 15. We're not a top 10 team right now.

I would agree with Hawk - Cuse is definitely a top 10 team. Should be a top 5 team again if all goes well before the ACC.

It's still early and hard to know exactly what will eventually qualify as good/bad losses or wins.

But Princeton is a top 5 team and likely a top 2 or 3 team. The loss to Penn State was bad but unfortunately that's what happens when teams have staggered starting dates. That game was pretty even after Q1. (As was last night - Cuse did outscore the Tigers after that 6-0 opening). I thought pollsters dropping them out of the top 10 following that loss was a gross overreaction and incredibly shortsighted.

The Harvard loss is more difficult to predict how it'll age but Harvard will likely be a top 15 team when all is said and done and Cuse lost on the road by one.

This weekend will go a long way to showing where UMD stacks up with a game against ND. But that's probably a top 10 team at the very least.

The next 4 games are huge. Three of those teams will likely be hovering in the top 15-25 range all season and Cuse can't afford any more screwups there after the Harvard loss. They've got to right the ship and take care of business.

Georgetown should be another opportunity for a top 10 win before the ACCs (and a long needed home game).

Trying to keep a big picture lens on the season - hopefully we'll look back at this two game blip 1-2 months from now and see it for what it is - two tough road losses against a good Harvard squad and an excellent Princeton team.

But as I posted before they've got to develop a mental toughness real quick and put this behind them. No time to dwell on it with Penn tomorrow.

If they stumble during this next stretch or struggle - that would definitely be a concern.

 

[cuselaxss26]

Beside what he did on field obviously but really miss english. As in games when things were looking bleak saw english go up to guys even sidelines n get them up or calm them down whatever it may need. Did not see that yesterday from anyone. Like someone said maby it’s time to stop with this softness n need to get up in peoples faces n demand more. Think they need to get pissed off n play with some sort of controlled anger or attitude. Something needs to change or happen.

 

[OrangeinBoston]

Beside what he did on field obviously but really miss english. As in games when things were looking bleak saw english go up to guys even sidelines n get them up or calm them down whatever it may need. Did not see that yesterday from anyone. Like someone said maby it’s time to stop with this softness n need to get up in peoples faces n demand more. Think they need to get pissed off n play with some sort of controlled anger or attitude. Something needs to change or happen.

One would hope Spallina would play that role but, alas, he is missing in action the last two games.

 

[cuselaxss26]

yea maby this team lacking some leadership or locker room guy. They always praise english n kol last year being those guys. Not sure who would be this year. Feel that’s part of captains job but.

 

[cuselaxss26]

Last two games good teams no doubt but just felt like we didn’t hustle. Constant jogging or standing still. Don’t see that guy selling out non stop that motivates teams like a max rosa. Even seem like hottle was moving slowly n if that happens then seems like trouble.

Also think offense relying to much on trying to get middle looks. Yes they are the looks ya want but all d will try to shut off the middle. So gotta take what they’re giving you n bury some midrange even outside shots to force D to honor ya. Feel like could easily set up few plays where rhoa leo coming round or off pick for quick rip from up top or even off wing. Honestly still lacking a true sniper which think hurts. Need to stretch the D somehow. Ball movement n quick passing was our thing specially last year. So far it ball has not been spinning like it was or even should. Allowing the D to get back set when moving it slow. Need get the D just constantly moving n as they are look see where openings are n hit those fast before closes.

I’d also like to see mixing some other guys in. Throw in kraftson for shift or two. Never know where spark can come from and if guys in front arnt getting done at moment try someone else. Specially early in game when have plenty time left. Also limit ochoas shifts dramatically , or just have him shut off whoever he is covering always.

 

[LaxAddict38]

Jimmy McCool was 61% and, despite a weak game from Mullen, Syracuse held one of the most talented offenses in the country to 11 goals.

Despite what is being said by some on this board about McCool, Mullen, and the defense, I believe this game falls squarely on Pat March and the offense.

The Syracuse defensive personnel group, talent wise, is solid, not elite. Pre-season, had you told me they could keep Princeton to 11, I would have been extremely impressed. Odierna is the real deal. The offense MUST be elite for us to win top 10 games moving forward. If March cannot figure out how to move his pieces around to get elite production, this will be a long season.

7 goals (really 6 before garbage time) against a Princeton defense that has proven to be shaky, at best, over the last year and a half, is extremely concerning.

The wacky, 2 below goal line, offensive scheme they were running appeared to play to nobody's strengths. It was great against Hopkins last year but looked horrible last night. There was no flow, the ball was dying in sticks, there were turnovers early in the shot clock, and nobody looked comfortable. Why choose this game to try to re-invent the wheel? We have horses, just keep it simple and let the kids play. Not to mention March's long time struggles with zone defense coming to the surface in the 2nd half.

With as much talent as there is on the offensive side of the ball for this Syracuse team, scoring 7 against Princeton is unacceptable and extremely concerning.

I have never been impressed with March's in-game adjustments relative to Donahue, but since his takeover the offensive numbers have been solid, and recruiting has been an improvement. I am, however, worried about March's ability to lead this offense through the ups and downs of the high quality schedule we are playing this year.

Do or die year for him moving forward, in my opinion.

 

[DMVCuseLax]

What are the thoughts on using an orange or yellow ball when the field has mounds of snow around it? Watching Lehigh vs Bucknell and they are using yellow balls.

I was at the Harvard and Princeton game and lost the ball several times because of the snow.

 

[cuselaxss26]

It seems after the maryland games teams noticed something bout us. We love the middle n our guys can beat their man (normally) so teams sliding super early. So seem like harvard n princeton were sliding early to our dodgers n making sure was no middle looks or able to get hands free for shot off dodge. Think more teams gonna try to shut down that. What O will need to do is get midrange shots going. I’ve seen it rob vs harvard n even vs princeton there are open looks top center or even mid wing ish guess.

When going down alley n n slide comes usually the O guy who was top center is open if he could trail his slide n either dodger throw a baxk pass to him or even have guy come from behind net up side n quick pass to him to quick pass up top center would have a open 8-10yrd shot. Teams are begging us to shoot the ball. They know we want middle or just 1v1. Gonna have to take the open 8-12 yrd shots they’re giving us to force them out of their game plan. Will also say with no hiltz we are also seriously missing skip passes. He was pro with the skip pass. Have not seen this group do it much. But those are the passes gotta be able to make. As they will either be open look or it will start to the open look.

 

[CuseEagle8]

Jimmy McCool was 61% and, despite a weak game from Mullen, Syracuse held one of the most talented offenses in the country to 11 goals.

Despite what is being said by some on this board about McCool, Mullen, and the defense, I believe this game falls squarely on Pat March and the offense.

The Syracuse defensive personnel group, talent wise, is solid, not elite. Pre-season, had you told me they could keep Princeton to 11, I would have been extremely impressed. Odierna is the real deal. The offense MUST be elite for us to win top 10 games moving forward. If March cannot figure out how to move his pieces around to get elite production, this will be a long season.

7 goals (really 6 before garbage time) against a Princeton defense that has proven to be shaky, at best, over the last year and a half, is extremely concerning.

The wacky, 2 below goal line, offensive scheme they were running appeared to play to nobody's strengths. It was great against Hopkins last year but looked horrible last night. There was no flow, the ball was dying in sticks, there were turnovers early in the shot clock, and nobody looked comfortable. Why choose this game to try to re-invent the wheel? We have horses, just keep it simple and let the kids play. Not to mention March's long time struggles with zone defense coming to the surface in the 2nd half.

With as much talent as there is on the offensive side of the ball for this Syracuse team, scoring 7 against Princeton is unacceptable and extremely concerning.

I have never been impressed with March's in-game adjustments relative to Donahue, but since his takeover the offensive numbers have been solid, and recruiting has been an improvement. I am, however, worried about March's ability to lead this offense through the ups and downs of the high quality schedule we are playing this year.

Do or die year for him moving forward, in my opinion.

Agree with pretty much everything you say. However, this defense does seem to go through phases where it just slides too early and often. Most of the time I like what I see from the defense. Solid one on one defenders and a goalie who is great besides like two or three games a year for some reason. But it does seem like some games they get slide crazy where it looks like they have no idea what they’re doing.

The offense is the problem. It’s just too much talent to be shut down like they are sometimes. Seems to me the problems usually occur when they force passes too much. Leading to turnovers which leads to them feeling pressure the next time they have the ball leading to them taking bad shots. They just go in these crazy slumps

 

[swish7]

Didn't see the game.

Guess we cannot have nice things.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Didn't see the game.

Guess we cannot have nice things.

Lost the 1st qtr 0-5

Won the next three 7-6

 

[ks orange]

"

Agree with pretty much everything you say. However, this defense does seem to go through phases where it just slides too early and often. Most of the time I like what I see from the defense. Solid one on one defenders and a goalie who is great besides like two or three games a year for some reason. But it does seem like some games they get slide crazy where it looks like they have no idea what they’re doing.

The offense is the problem. It’s just too much talent to be shut down like they are sometimes. Seems to me the problems usually occur when they force passes too much. Leading to turnovers which leads to them feeling pressure the next time they have the ball leading to them taking bad shots. They just go in these crazy slumps

I'll happily defer to those who are more knowledgeable but it seems to me that the team's current concept of "positionless offense" is having some severe growing pains. I say that as we plug Thomson first into a middie role and then to crease attack or swap Bear from up high to down low or Leo from wing to behind. Too often it seems that the ball dies in people's sticks because they seem disoriented and uncertain where to find the next pass. Is that because they are playing outside their normal space on the field? I don't know. In the last several years, I think I would identify one truly "positionless" Syracuse player: Sam English. And he was a unicorn.

 

[DMVCuseLax]

"

I'll happily defer to those who are more knowledgeable but it seems to me that the team's current concept of "positionless offense" is having some severe growing pains. I say that as we plug Thomson first into a middie role and then to crease attack or swap Bear from up high to down low or Leo from wing to behind. Too often it seems that the ball dies in people's sticks because they seem disoriented and uncertain where to find the next pass. Is that because they are playing outside their normal space on the field? I don't know. In the last several years, I think I would identify one truly "positionless" Syracuse player: Sam English. And he was a unicorn.

I have to agree. The ball is dying in Leo and Joey's stick right now. Would like to see them stay with Leo at midfield and Anderson at attack. Need to get back to ball movement to get guys looks and get the goalie moving.

Defensively we need to clean up the slides.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

I have to agree. The ball is dying in Leo and Joey's stick right now. Would like to see them stay with Leo at midfield and Anderson at attack. Need to get back to ball movement to get guys looks and get the goalie moving.

Defensively we need to clean up the slides.

Interesting.

On the radio they were talking about playing Anderson at Mid because he could run over defenders like Myles Jones used to.

 

[JeremyCuse]

I have to agree. The ball is dying in Leo and Joey's stick right now. Would like to see them stay with Leo at midfield and Anderson at attack. Need to get back to ball movement to get guys looks and get the goalie moving.

Defensively we need to clean up the slides.

Anderson has played attack exclusively I believe. Thomson has been moved to mid when Leonhas been at attack save for St. Joes.

 

[OrangeinBoston]

Maryland victory looking pretty hollow now - they lost again.

 

[DMVCuseLax]

Anderson has played attack exclusively I believe. Thomson has been moved to mid when Leonhas been at attack save for St. Joes.

Ok. Will then put Thomson back at attack. Leo needs to go back to midfield in my opinion.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Ok. Will then put Thomson back at attack. Leo needs to go back to midfield in my opinion.

They seem unclear on what they wanna do with Leo. Thomson has struggled at times at attack and looked better at mid but SUs probably better overall with Leo at mid. Tough call

 

[CuseAlum87]

They seem unclear on what they wanna do with Leo. Thomson has struggled at times at attack and looked better at mid but SUs probably better overall with Leo at mid. Tough call

I like Leo at Mid up top

 

[FloridaCuse]

I put off reading this all day until just now (I saw when it came in just after 8am). I'm posting it because I think some may want to see what an objective third party has to say about yesterday's game. Although it is much more about Princeton and very little about us. Watching today's Hop/Va game got me back into caring about lacrosse. [I still think it was as much our poor offense as P's good defense.]

LACROSSE REFERENCE Review
via free Expected Goals Email Feb 28, 2026

Recap: Princeton vs Syracuse​

[td]Princeton walked into Friday's matchup with Syracuse in what looked on paper like a toss-up, but the Tigers spent most of the night dictating terms in an 11–7 win. They controlled the possession game, kept Syracuse to one-and-done trips on offense, and were never really chasing the result in the second half.

Offensively, this wasn't Princeton at their sharpest, and that's probably the one caveat to an otherwise convincing performance. Adjusted for opponent, their on-goal shooting percentage checked in at 49.0%, down from 55.4% over the full 2025 season and below the 58.2% they posted in the first two games against Penn State and Maryland. That drop in shooting form showed up in the efficiency column too: a 33.9% opponent-adjusted offensive efficiency in this one versus 39.9% last year. So the Tigers put up 11 goals and did enough to win comfortably, but they did it more by grinding out possessions than by pure shot-making.

The faceoff unit helped paper over some of that offensive slippage. Adjusted for opponent, Princeton posted a 64.9% faceoff win rate, a big jump from last season's 53.0% and well above the 50.2% they managed over the first two games of 2026. Even with Andrew McMeekin only at 53% individually (10 wins on 19 draws), the overall group performance gave Princeton a steady edge in possessions. In a game where the shooting wasn't as efficient, owning nearly two-thirds of the faceoffs was a major reason they were able to stay in control.

On the other side of the ball, the defense was the real story. Princeton didn't just defend well; they squeezed the life out of Syracuse's offense. Adjusted for the quality of the Orange attack, the Tigers allowed just 0.82 shots per possession, a substantial improvement from last year's 1.02. That kind of shot suppression is rare for them—only two games in 2025 saw them allow fewer shots per possession—and it lines up with what we've seen early this season (0.78 over the first two games). The impact on defensive efficiency was massive: they held Syracuse to an opponent-adjusted 10.8% efficiency, compared with 25.7% allowed in 2025. That's not just better; that's a completely different defensive profile.

Put together, this was a game where Princeton's defense and faceoff play carried the day in what was expected to be an even matchup. The Tigers didn't shoot it as well as they're capable of, especially compared to last year's numbers, but they more than made up for it by tilting the possession battle and smothering Syracuse's chances. If the shooting ticks back up to 2025 levels while this version of the defense and faceoff unit holds, Princeton's ceiling looks higher than it did a year ago.[/td]