Men's Lacrosse Game Of The Week: No. 5 Princeton vs. No. 2 Maryland

The No. 5 Princeton Tigers will host the No. 2 Maryland Terrapins on Saturday at noon for one of the first top-five matchups of the college lacrosse season.

Both Princeton and Maryland are coming off of big wins against top 10 opponents with Princeton beating Penn State away and Maryland beating Syracuse at home.

Maryland has been so dominant when it comes to these two teams facing off against each other.

They currently lead the all-time series in this matchup with a record of 36-12-1 and have an eight game winning streak against the Tigers.

These two teams faced off twice last season with Maryland beating Princeton at home in College Park and in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Maryland will be on the road for this game, but they are led by one of the best goalies in the country in Logan McNaney.

McNaney has only given up 20 goals in three games with goals against average of 6.67.

Maryland is also one of the top defensive teams in the country with a clearing percentage of 95.3 which is the third best in the nation.

However, they are gonna have to go up against some of the top offensive players in the nation.

Princeton’s top four scorers from last season have all come back and look just as good and better.

Those four are Coulter Mackesy, Colin Burns, Nate Kabiri and Chad Palumbo.

All four started all 16 games for Princeton last season and will most likely be the same this season unless of any injuries.

The one guy that stands out from the rest is Mackesy. He holds the record for most single season goals in Princeton history with 55 and has been a nominee for the Tewaaraton award for the last two seasons.

Mackesy is a player that makes any team 10 times better and Princeton has been able to take advantage of that for all of his years on the Tigers’ squad.

Not to mention, he has two games in his career where he has scored eight or more goals and seven games where he has scored five or more goals.

Both Princeton and Maryland have some of the best defenses when down a man. Neither of these teams have given up a goal this season when their opponent is on the power-play.

Even though Princeton got a big win over ranked Penn State, they have only played one game so far this season, and they will have to go on the road again to face off against an even tougher Big Ten opponent. The Tigers were able to win in overtime in Holuba Hall and defeat the Nittany Lions but can they spoil Maryland’s perfect season?

Both of these teams’ offenses and defenses in this stacked matchup will be put to the test and it will be one of the greatest games of the season so early on.

Massimo Buonagurio is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email him at mkb6750@psu.edu.