STANDING TALL: Princeton University men’s lacrosse goalie Ryan Croddick guards the crease last Saturday against Penn State as the Tigers opened their 2025 campaign. Junior Croddick, a former Hun School standout, made 21 saves in his first college start to help No. 5 Princeton edge the No. 10 Nittany Lions 11-10 in overtime. Croddick’s 21 saves set a program record for a first-time starter. The Tigers will be hosting No. 2 Maryland (3-0) on February 22. (Photo by Ben Amtsberg, provided courtesy of PU Athletics)

By Justin Feil

Ryan Croddick’s record-setting performance in the season opener last Saturday answered one of the biggest questions facing the Princeton University men’s lacrosse team.

The junior goalie made 21 saves in his first collegiate start last Saturday to help the No. 5 Tigers win their clash at No. 10 Penn State, 11-10, in overtime.

“It feels great,” said Croddick, whose 21-save effort set a program record for a first-time starter. “I think I lost a couple of years off my life during that game, but it was great. It was a big test early to start with a Big 10 opponent, which we haven’t done in a long time, but it was a great test to start the season and we came out with a win, so it was even better.”

In reflecting on his record-breaking performance, Croddick had no idea how many saves he was piling up.

“I never really expected that many,” said Croddick, who was later named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week. “I didn’t really know how many it was. I was just glad it went the way it did.”

Coming into Saturday, Penn State already had a pair of solid wins under their belt while Princeton had to wait for the first permitted day of Ivy League play, the third Saturday in February. The Tigers came in with plenty returning from last year’s Ivy League Tournament champions, but its most notable graduation loss was two-year starter in goal, Michael Gianforcaro. He led the Ivies in goals against average in each of the last two years, although he never had more than 20 saves in a game.

In stepped Croddick, who did a post-graduate year at The Hun School after graduating from Rumson-Fair Haven, and had a total of five saves in his first two years at Princeton.

“I waited for two years on Mike Gianforcaro, who’s at UNC now, and was a great goalie,” said Croddick, a 6’3, 185-pound native of Rumson. “So when my time came, I wouldn’t say I was more nervous, just excited to finally get going and have my chance at the job.”

It had been a long wait for Croddick, who tried to make the most of his first two years so he was prepared for this year.

“I think my freshman year was more difficult, just adjusting to school, adjusting to not playing,” said Croddick. “That was definitely a big thing for me. And then last year I just really took a step back and just sat there and just tried to learn and be patient and really work on my lacrosse game and then also my mental game so that when I finally got the chance to play, everything was in the right spot.”

Being largely an unknown, aside from being a highly touted high school recruit, suited him just fine before his first start for the Tigers.

“I honestly like that, kind of going in like a dark horse, like no one really knew me,” said Croddick. “It was a big question mark. But I was confident myself. My coaches were confident in me. I’ve kind of known I’ve had the job for a while so just going out there and having the game that I did just kind of spoke to what we were doing behind the scenes.”

Croddick had given the Tigers staff under head coach Matt Madalon confidence with his play during the fall, and then looked good when practices resumed when Princeton returned to school for the spring semester. He had a pair of scrimmages that had him feeling good ahead of taking over.

“We played Villanova and UMBC and I just honestly felt really comfortable with the guys in front of me and also just in my own abilities,” said Croddick. “That sort of just calmed the nerves before the first game.”

Croddick and the Princeton defense were the first to hold Penn State under 14 goals in a game this season. The Tigers have a number of returning players in front of Croddick, which helped him step in seamlessly.

“Just having some crucial veteran players back in there just made the transition from Mike last year to me now just a lot smoother than it could have been,” said Croddick. “And honestly (Saturday) just our whole D unit as a whole, we had a lot of guys step up because Colin Mulshine and Michael Bath were having cramps and missed a bunch of key minutes. And I think it was just like a testament to our team’s culture and just everyone on the D unit being in the right space and ready to play at any moment. So I think that overall just helped the transition be very easy and smooth for me.”

Croddick was steady throughout his first start, which was played inside Penn State’s Holuba Hall due to inclement outside weather. He made four saves in the first quarter, and had already surpassed his career total with four more saves in the second quarter. He saved seven shots in the third quarter and six more in the fourth quarter.

“A lot of their shots were, for me, I think pretty easy to save, easy to see, from the sort of spots that the defense is willing to give up,” said Croddick. “I felt comfortable with a lot of those. I definitely stole a couple and felt like I was heating up. More shots I felt like was better honestly.”

Penn State had shown the ability to score in its first two games, and their experience and skill was a good test for the Tigers. Princeton proved up to the challenges they presented.

“They had some really good shooters,” said Croddick. “Matt Traynor’s a really, really good player. And (playing) inside, just the ball jumped a little bit. There’s definitely a difference playing inside than outside, so that was definitely a challenge. Just them having played already, the first few minutes definitely felt different just because it was our first game. But coach said something earlier this week that made a lot of sense to me that the first six minutes is what matters most just because they had played. Then after that we got our feet under water and could play.”

Star attacker Coulter Mackesy started his senior year with a bang, tallying five goals and an assist while sophomore standout Colin Burns had four goals, including the game-winner in overtime, and was later named the Ivy Offensive Player of the Week. Junior midfielder Chad Palumbo delivered three assists. Even Croddick had an assist, the first of his career. Neither team scored in the final five minutes of regulation to send the game into extra time when the pressure on a goalie goes up – one mistake and the game is over.

“I was excited,” said Croddick. “I was just trying to keep the same headspace as I had the rest of the game. But honestly, I was just hoping they didn’t shoot the ball. And luckily, they didn’t get a shot off.”

The Tigers don’t want to surrender that many shots on goal week after week. It’s not a formula for success. Princeton will be focusing this week on staying focused all the way through the shot clock, and they have to clean up their clearing game. The next challenge comes from another Big 10 team, No. 2 Maryland, who is unbeaten at 3-0 after an impressive 11-7 win over previously unbeaten Syracuse. The Terps have beaten Princeton five straight times in the last three years, including a 16-8 win over the Tigers last spring in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

“They’re a great team, a great coached team,” said Croddick. “They just have an incredible system and been doing the same thing for many years. So any guys they can plug in there and play for them. I think we just have to really watch the film from this past Saturday and get prepared from what we’ve been seeing the past couple years from Maryland.”

It will be a top-five matchup this week with both Maryland and Princeton coming off big wins. The Tigers are encouraged after seeing one of their biggest question marks answered with a record-setting effort in goal by Croddick.

“It just gives our team confidence knowing that we can beat a big out of conference accomplished opponent like that,” said Croddick. “And also I felt like the last few years we played like Manhattan and Monmouth our first two games, and then our first big test would be after that every year. So that we already had that big test and faced that adversity, I think we’re super confident and just ready to go into the next game.”