Heartbreak Squared

The venue was the same — Shuart Stadium at Hofstra University.

Would the emotions match those of three years ago or of 16 years ago? Sadly, it would be the latter. 

TigerBlog couldn't help but think back to Princeton's previous two appearances in the NCAA men's lacrosse quarterfinals before the Tigers took on Syracuse Saturday. For the winner there would be a trip to this weekend's semifinals in Foxboro. 

For the losing team, there would only the heartbreak of coming oh-so-close no matter how the game played out. With the way this one went? It was heartbreak-squared.

This was the same field where Princeton had defeated Yale 14-10 in the 2022 quarterfinals. It was also the field where Princeton had fallen to Cornell 6-4 in the 2009 quarterfinals. 

The game this past Saturday would have more goals than those two combined. Final score: Syracuse 19, Princeton 18. 

As with any shootout like that, you're left with a ton of "what-ifs" when it ends. Every detail becomes something to stew about over and over and over. 

In the end, it doesn't matter. There's only the final score — and nothing can ever change it. 

TB has always put that 2009 quarterfinal loss among the top two most heartbreaking losses he's seen in all his time at Princeton, along with the 1998 NCAA second-round men's basketball loss to Michigan State. The game Saturday has, as the kids say, "entered the chat." 

Princeton led 5-2 early. Syracuse led 16-11 in the third quarter. It was tied 16-16 in the fourth. And 17-17 (after Syracuse had briefly regained the lead). And 18-18 (after Princeton had as well). Then Syracuse scored with three minutes left to go ahead, and Princeton's last two shots were stopped. 

And just like that, a season of greatness, a more-than-three-month run with so many big moments, had ended. 

The finality of it is just brutal. 

If there were any consolations, these were they:

1) Princeton and Syracuse had played one of the greatest NCAA games ever. Had this been two rounds later, it would have been considered THE best the tournament has seen, or at worst one of the top three. If you were simply a fan of lacrosse, or someone who had never seen a game, then you would have loved to see it.

2) It was also great to see the Princeton-Syracuse rivalry renewed in May. Princeton and Syracuse won every NCAA title from 1988-2004 except for 1991 (North Carolina), 1999 and 2003 (Virginia), and they played each other in four of those finals, including three straight from 2000-02. The teams are 2-2 against each other on Memorial Day. All NCAA games are special — Princeton vs. Syracuse has always been a little more so, and the game Saturday certainly added to the lore. 

3) There was also the whole Sam English dynamic. English is a Princeton graduate who scored three goals in the 2022 quarterfinal win over Yale and then had two against his alma mater Saturday as a grad student for the Orange. English is a difficult guy to root against. 

With the season over, it's a good time to look back on what the Class of 2025 accomplished in its four years together. There was the 2022 Final Four and the 2025 quarterfinals. There were two Ivy League tournament championships. 

The Class of 2025 went 43-21 overall and 13-4 as seniors. Those numbers include a postseason record of 8-5 and the distinction of being the first Princeton class since 2004 to reach four NCAA titles.

Special recognition goes to Coulter Mackesy, who graduates as the all-time leading goal-scorer in program history with 167, as well as the single-season leader after having 55 as a sophomore. He also finished with 248 career points, one ahead of Kevin Lowe, in second place behind only Michael Sowers. 

And also to Chad Palumbo, a junior, who tied the program record with six goals in an NCAA game in the loss Saturday. With two assists, he also had the second-highest single-game NCAA point total by a Tiger with eight. 

It was a long bus ride back to Princeton after the game. It was a sad gathering in Caldwell Field House after returning. 

It's never easy when a season is over, unless you're the ones rolling around in the dog pile on Memorial Day. In time, they'll come to appreciate what the seniors accomplished, what they all accomplished, and the returning players will be back next year to make another run at it. Princeton figures to be a preseason top five team next year at least. 

Still, in that moment? There were tears and long faces. That's how it should be. It should sting when you put that much into something.

And it does. If you've never seen it up close, you'll never really appreciate it.