After ending a 25-year championship drought with a 16-9 win over Notre Dame in Monday’s NCAA Division I men’s championship game, Princeton ends the 2026 season at No. 1 in the USA Lacrosse Division I Men’s Top 20, presented by CWENCH Hydration.
Princeton lost just two games all season and ripped off 12 straight wins after a loss to Cornell on March 21. The Tigers ranked third nationally in scoring offense (14.84 goals per game) and fifth nationally in scoring margin (5.16 goals per game).
Tewaaraton Award finalist Nate Kabiri led the charge as the offense’s engine, but it was hardly a one-man show that brought a title back to Princeton.
NCAA runner-up Notre Dame checks in at No. 2 and figures to return a significant portion of its difference-makers for another shot at the title in 2027. Syracuse and Duke, the remaining championship weekend participants, are Nos. 3 and 4, respectively. North Carolina rounds out the top five.
USA LACROSSE DIVISION I
MEN’S TOP 20
1. Princeton
2. Notre Dame
3. Syracuse
4. Duke
5. North Carolina
6. Penn State
7. Richmond
8. Johns Hopkins
9. Georgetown
10. Cornell
11. Virginia
12. Maryland
13. Harvard
14. Army
15. Yale
16. Ohio State
17. Loyola
18. Penn
19. Jacksonville
20. Towson
Also considered (alphabetical order): Boston U, Michigan, Robert Morris, Rutgers, UAlbany
