Team Stahl: Brothers on Two Different Sides of the Same League

When Travis and Jason Kelce played against each other in the 2023 Super Bowl, Donna Kelce wore a jersey split in half with one side dedicated to Travis’ Kansas City Chiefs and the other dedicated to Jason’s Philadelphia Eagles.  

When junior defenseman Jack Stahl of the Princeton men’s lacrosse team and Dartmouth senior midfielder Will Stahl played against each other for both programs’ last game of the regular season on April 25 in Princeton, their mother, Cathy Stahl, knew she had to get creative.  

Split jerseys? So last season. Hats? Totally in.

“I needed something I could order in bulk. I think I ordered about 20 hats,” she said. “The ‘mommy network’ is how I got them done.”

Nobody could miss Team Stahl and their swag in the stands of Princeton’s Sherrerd Field Class of ’52 Stadium.  

It’s special to play Division I lacrosse in the same league as your brother no matter the circumstances, but on April 25, the rivalry got even more personal.  

“It’s pretty crazy the way things worked out,” Will put it bluntly. “When Dartmouth was officially eliminated, I thought to myself, ‘No way my last game is against Jack.’”

Typically, little brothers follow in big brothers’ footsteps, but that’s not how any of it went down for the Stahls in terms of lacrosse. First things first — neither Jack nor Will are little (6-4 and 6-3, respectively), Secondly, Jack, the 2026 Ivy League Defenseman of the Year and a Tewaaraton Award Nominee, actually got the brothers to become lax rats.  

“I loved going to all of Jack’s games as a kid in Connecticut, and so when we moved out to California, I started playing in middle school there,” Will said.  

Then they were high school teammates. Fast forward to college, and Will began playing for Holy Cross, starting all 13 games as a sophomore for the Crusaders and finishing second on the team in points. Will decided to transfer to Dartmouth, a school he coined as the "rugged Ivy” ever since he looked at it during his original recruitment process.

“I don’t think I ever processed that I would play against him,” Jack said about their unique experience. "A lot of my teammates play against their high school teammates or good friends, but it’s a little different when your older brother is out there running around.”

Both brothers said that playing against each other helps their teams get some intel on the other Stahl.

“During scout, our ‘D’ coach would make jokes like, ‘14, Jack Stahl’s brother,’” Jack said between laughs.

Dartmouth is no different.

“Guys think it’s pretty cool to get to play Jack, always asking me for the scout on him,” Will said. “It was pretty funny that my roommate, Thomas Power, was actually Jack’s matchup this year.”

Once game day rolled around, Will was itching to shoot on Jack.  

“I was really hoping I would get to go at him,” Will said.  

And as for Jack, well, he could have gone without that happening.  

Q: “Would you want to guard your brother, Jack?”

A: “No. If he ever scores on me, I’m never going to hear the end of it.”  

A brothers’ bond at its finest.

In the end, younger brother Jack and the Tigers had the last laugh, winning 17–9. Will scored the first goal of the game, though not against his brother, and Jack recorded two ground balls and three caused turnovers.

“Just being the older brother ,I think it’s my job to win. You know I can’t lose to my little brother,” Will said. “Unfortunately, it’s been two years playing against Princeton and both times I’ve lost to Princeton.”

Will knew he would have had to hang up his helmet regardless of what the scoreboard said at the end of the game, but one could say Jack ended his brother’s lacrosse career. Even with that, there was no bad blood, just brotherly love — something that brought their mother to tears.  

“Years of trying to make each other better was what was flashing before my eyes,” Cathy said. “I was hoping we weren’t going to have a ‘Lord of the Flies’ brother-on-brother moment. We used to hear that, when they did box practice, it was harsh between Stahl brothers.”

The members of Team Stahl try to stay as 50-50 Dartmouth-Princeton as they can. They ordered the same number of orange and green hats. In the bleachers, they sat as close to the midline as possible, and they evenly split which of Jack’s games and which of Will’s games they attend. Still, Will has his suspicions.  

“I always joke around with them at home saying, ‘Who you rooting for? Who you rooting for?,’” he said. “They always tell me nobody, but I’m pretty sure my mom’s a Princeton fan and my dad’s a Dartmouth fan.”

No matter what side the members of Team Stahl are cheering on, lacrosse has brought so much joy to the group. The sport is what built Jack and Will’s relationship, and both brothers feel privileged to spend time playing together, even if on the field they are supposed to be enemies.  

“Lacrosse has been the most important thing in our lives to date,” Will said.

Now that Princeton has won the Ivy League tournament and the NCAA tournament is the only lacrosse left on the 2026 calendar, that means two things for Team Stahl: scheduling whose game to go to becomes a lot easier, and everyone is just going to have to embrace the Princeton Orange and Black.