Princeton never trailed in this game and Mackesy didn’t have to wait long for his moment. The Tigers jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first quarter behind a pair of Wade goals, Mackesy’s record-setter off a feed from Kabiri at X and Burns’ first goal with 8.3 seconds left.
“I couldn't have drawn it up better getting the pass from Nate on ’52 in my last game here,” Mackesy said. “Not that I planned that, but it's a good way to do it.”
It capped a huge week for Mackesy, who was named a Tewaaraton Award finalist, selected fourth overall in the PLL draft by the Boston Cannons and named first-team All-Ivy League unanimously.
“It’s definitely been a little overwhelming,” Mackesy said. “A lot of text messages, but a lot of texts from people who I haven't talked to in a while, so it's been great to catch up with alumni and old friends.”
Madalon was worried about the extra attention being a distraction, but the Tigers showed focus in their fast start. Mackesy set the record early and kept the focus on winning the game.
“We try to keep our guys under the visor,” Madalon said. “He does it better than anyone else. His mindset's been consistent since he walked on this campus. It's never been about breaking records and never been about winning the Tewaaraton. Nothing's going to change moving forward. If he gets it, awesome. If not, it’s all about the team.”
Mackesy can make his mark even bigger by joining Hubbard, a three-time NCAA champion, in leading Princeton to a national title.
“Coming in as a freshman, I didn't know much about the program, how special it really is and all the great players who've come before us,” Mackesy said. “But over my time here, I've gotten the chance to meet all these amazing legends and call them my friends and mentors. That’s just the beauty of our program. Legends like Jesse Hubbard and all these other guys stick around and are mentors and really root for us more than anyone else.”
Coastal Athletic Association champion Towson rallied in the first seven minutes of the second quarter with a 4-1 advantage on goals from Michael Katz, Fitzpatrick, Chop Gallagher and Alex Vieni to tie it 5-5. Sustaining that stretch proved tough as Princeton outscored it 15-5 over the next 20 minutes. The Tigers shot a blistering 85 percent (17-for-20) after the 5 all tie.
“We knew they were high-powered offensively and we need to be really sharp defensively to try to limit them and then stop them,” Towson coach Shawn Nadelen said. “We didn't do a great job with that, closing out on shooters, challenging shots. You leave the players that they have with their hands free and then step-down opportunities and there's a high percentage they’re going to make those plays, so you're not helping your goalie out too much. And we had a tough stretch there where they had a lot of faceoffs go their way as well. That put that spread on us a little too much.”
Wade’s fourth goal of the game gave Princeton the lead for good, Cameron scored on the next possession and the lead grew to 9-5 with goals by Burns and Kabiri six seconds apart after McMeekin pushed the early faceoff edge to 12-3. After a Fitzpatrick goal stymied the onslaught, McMeekin pushed the faceoff advantage to 14-3 and scored his first goal of the season.
“We just wanted to keep the same mindset we've talked about before the week,” said Wade, whose five goals were a career high. “Go down four goals, or you're up a couple, the mindset should stay the same. So our plan was to go out there and be as productive as we can.”
Fitzpatrick’s third goal of the game was offset by Kabiri scoring off a feed from Wade to take an 11-7 halftime lead. If there was one thing that kept Princeton from getting ahead more in the first half, it was going 8-for-14 on clears. That deficiency offset a 16-4 faceoff advantage for Princeton.
“It was probably seven different versions of the same mistakes,” Madalon said. “I'm not too worried schematically. We just have to get back to work and get a little more urgency in that part of our game. But Towson did a heck of a job in terms of evening the faceoff battle. Obviously Meeks did a great job making it lopsided there. They evened that with their play in the middle of the field and their ability to earn turnovers.”
Princeton and Towson split the first six goals of the second half to make it 14-10 five minutes into the third quarter before Princeton scored the final six goals of the quarter to effectively ice the game and end a wild ride for Towson. The Tigers were 1-5 before reeling off 10 straight wins to reach the NCAA tournament as hot as any team in the country. Their run ended where Nadelen’s coaching career began in 2002 – at Princeton, where he was an assistant to Bill Tierney for three years.
“Our team is full of warriors and that was something that showed through again today with our ability to make some pushes, have some runs and be able to stay in the fight as long as possible,” Nadelen said. “Our guys continue to show their resiliency. I couldn't be more proud of this group, not just today but before the year they put together.”
Princeton’s season continues in the quarterfinals. The Tigers have not faced Syracuse this year, but they defeated Harvard in the Ivy League semifinals 11-8 on May 2.
“Two awesome teams,” Madalon said. “We’re just pumped about the opportunity to get this team back to Hempstead. Playing the quarterfinal game, that's why these guys make this decision to come here to a school like Princeton. So we're really thrilled. We’re just pumped to get back to work with this group. It's a special crew.”
