The No. 2 seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish are taking on the No. 1 seed Princeton Tigers in the 2026 men’s lacrosse national championship at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Va.
Both Notre Dame (ACC) and Princeton (Ivy League) had first-round byes. Notre Dame (13-2) advanced by beating Jacksonville 18-5 and Johns Hopkins 15-9. The Irish then beat Syracuse 15-7 with a dominant fourth quarter in the final four.
Meanwhile, Princeton (16-2) beat Marist 17-8, Penn State 14-10 and Duke 14-7.
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Princeton 16, Notre Dame 9 — Final
Notre Dame loses a frustrating one in the 2026 men’s lacrosse national championship game. While there was a lot of talk about this year’s Princeton team being an unstoppable juggernaut, Notre Dame seemed up to the task. The broadcast even opened by suggesting that this game might need extra time to decide a winner.
Notre Dame got off to a hot start but allowed Princeton to go on a run. Still, it seemed like the game would be back and forth until the Irish suffered the second quarter from hell. Nothing went right, Princeton got to every loose ball and got every lucky bounce, and Notre Dame looked like it had never seen a zone defense before.
That’s why this game was frustrating for the Irish — the team got its stuff together in the second half and seemed poised to mount a comeback but the mountain that needed climbing was too tall. All because of that second quarter — had the Irish trailed by a smaller margin, they might jut have mounted the comeback.
The lack of adjustment to Princeton’s zone before halftime is hard to stomach. Had Notre Dame solved the zone sooner and netted a few before halftime, perhaps this one plays out differently.
Brock Behrman did net a goal that was too little, too late. Notre Dame won’t have its third title in four years.
That’s it for us.
Princeton 15, Notre Dame 8 — 7:12 4Q
Despite a solid push from Notre Dame that included a Josh Yago goal, Princeton looks like it might have snuffed out the Fighting Irish with two goals, including a transition goal from Cooper Mueller when Princeton — yet again — outhustled the Irish for a loose ball.
Princeton 13, Notre Dame 7 — End 3Q
Notre Dame has put itself in position to come back, thanks to a Luke Miller man-up goal at the 4:54 mark, but the hill will still be tough to climb.
Princeton 12, Notre Dame 6 — 6:54 3Q
Notre Dame is chipping away at Princeton’s lead, thanks to two goals from Will Angrick and one from Dylan Faison. Princeton did net one in that stretch, but Notre Dame looks much better this half and might be able to make a game of it.
Princeton 11, Notre Dame 3 — Halftime
Nothing is going right for Notre Dame. Princeton went from down 3-0 to scoring 11 straight goals. Notre Dame didn’t score in the second quarter and have gone over 25 minutes without a goal. Notre Dame lost ground balls when they had the Tigers outnumbered, the Irish missed an easy goal, and Notre Dame could not solve Princeton’s zone defense.
The only hope the Irish have is that there’s still half a game to go — if Princeton can have a quarter like that, Notre Dame can, too.
But right now all the momentum is on the Tigers’ side.
Chad Palumbo scored again for Princeton, as part of that run.
Princeton 6, Notre Dame 3 — 9:00 2Q
Princeton scored on an unreleasable man up, and netted two other goals. Chad Palumbo has a hat trick, Colin Burns scored a highlight-reel goal, and Andrew McMeekin had a goal. Princeton has scored six straight unanswered goals and Notre Dame hasn’t scored for about 15 minutes, and has barely even had shots on goal or possession of the ball. The good news for Notre Dame is that there is plenty of time left.
That’s the only good news right now.
Notre Dame 3, Princeton 3 — End 1Q
A switch to zone defense helped Princeton slow Notre Dame’s offense, and Chad Palumbo scored twice with Porter Malkiel tallying one to leave the game tied at the end of the first. Palumbo’s second goal tied the game.
Notre Dame 3, Princeton 2 — 7:30 1Q
Princeton adjusts and gets two quick goals — this is starting to feel like the previous Notre Dame game, two days ago.
Notre Dame 3, Princeton 0 — 10:11 1Q
Notre Dame gets off to a hot start with goals from Will Maheras, Josh Yago and Matt Jeffrey. Princeton calls timeout.
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Notre Dame vs. Princeton: NCAA title game live updates and highlights
Reporting by Tim Healey, Fighting Irish Wire / Fighting Irish Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
