CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Chad Palumbo scored all four of his goals in the first half, Colin Burns also had a hat trick, and Princeton beat Notre Dame 16-9 on Monday for its first NCAA men’s lacrosse championship since 2001.
Top-seeded Princeton (17-2) won its 12th straight game this season to improve to 7-2 in NCAA championship games. The Tigers were in the championship game for the ninth time in program history, with the first eight coming between 1992 and 2002.
No. 2 seed Notre Dame (13-3) was in the final for the third time in four years, with titles in 2023 and ‘24. The Irish also had championship losses in 2010 and ’14.
Princeton trailed 3-0 before scoring the last 11 goals of the first half.
Palumbo had a hand in the Tigers’ first three goals. Then he scored his 48th goal of the season with 22 seconds left before halftime for a 11-3 lead. It was Palumbo’s fifth game this season with four-plus goals.
Luke Miller scored a man-up goal with 4:54 left in the third to pull Notre Dame within 12-7. But Burns answered with his 11th goal of the tournament to extend the lead to 13-7.
Tucker Wade made it 14-8, on Princeton’s 50th shot of the game, for his 13th multi-goal game of the season.
Goalie Ryan Croddick made 13 saves to help Princeton keep its sixth postseason opponent to 10 goals or fewer.
Notre Dame’s only regular-season loss came against Virginia — also in Charlottesville.
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