Chad Wiedmaier is leaving quite a legacy as he wraps up his career with the Princeton University men’s lacrosse team.

Last week, the 6’1, 200-pound native of Chatham became the first Princeton men’s lacrosse player to be a four-time first-team All-Ivy selection with Cornell’s Max Siebald being the only other four-time first-team pick in league history.

Earlier this spring, senior defenseman and Tiger tri-captain Wiedmaier was named as one of 10 finalists for the Lowe’s Senior Class Award for men’s lacrosse. The award recognizes excellence in what is called the “4 C’s” of classroom, competition, community, and character.

While those accomplishments are special, Wiedmaier realizes that such honors mean that his time at Princeton is fleeting.

“It is bittersweet, I know that no matter what, I am going to be out of here really soon,” said Wiedmaier, who spent last summer helping young people in Uganda, working with Fields of Growth to help the Africans learn lacrosse.

“It hasn’t really hit me emotionally. I know mentally it is about to happen. I don’t think I will really feel it until the last whistle blows.”

While it looked like Princeton may have blown a chance to go for a national title after losing 15-7 to Yale last Sunday in the Ivy tournament championship game, Wiedmaier and the Tigers, now 11-4, will hit the field again as they received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and will play at fifth-seeded Virginia (11-3) on May 13 in an opening round matchup.

As Wiedmaier and his teammates faced Brown last Friday in the Ivy semifinals, they knew the stakes were high.

“It is my last chance,” said Wiedmaier. “We knew if we didn’t win tonight that we would be done for the year probably.”

The semis matchup was tricky since Princeton had routed Brown 13-2 in late March and realized the Bears would be hungry for revenge.

“We embarrassed them the last time we played them so we knew they were going to give us everything they have got,” said Wiedmaier.

“Their backs were to the wall, the only way they were getting into the NCAA tournament was winning the whole tournament.”

Sure enough, an inspired Brown team gave the Tigers trouble, taking a 4-3 lead in the second quarter before Princeton went on a 4-0  run to end the half on the way to a 9-6 victory.

“They were spinning us around inside with their inverts, we calmed down a little bit and zoned up inside,” explained Wiedmaier, who was later named to the All-Tournament team. “Once we started seeing that, it all made sense.”

The Tiger defensive unit has calmed most attacks this spring as it ranks sixth nationally in scoring defense, giving up 7.33 goals a game.

“There is a ton of chemistry there, not just the seniors but the shortsticks and middies,” said Wiedmaier, reflecting on a season which has seen him scoop up 32 ground balls and produce a team-high 33 caused turnovers.

“We have just gotten more and more comfortable as this year has gone on. Against Brown, the first time we played them we may have slid once — it was just individual defense. But tonight and recently, especially after we lost to Syracuse, we have been a sliding team on defense and we have been pressing on that a lot more. That’s what is going to pull us through.”

Coming off a frustrating 4-8 campaign in 2011, the Tigers have utilized an upbeat approach in rebounding to make it through to the NCAA tournament.

“You can just tell the vibe with our whole team,” said Wiedmaier. “We have been playing very loose lately and that is when we play our best. It is just a lot more fun this year than last year.”

If Wiedmaier and the Tigers can have more fun in the NCAAs, that would burnish his already special legacy.