2027 Ivy League Men's Lacrosse Season Premiere: Can Anyone Catch Princeton?

The State of the League

The Ivy League enters 2027 coming off one of the most consequential seasons in its history. A year after Cornell cut down the nets, the conference produced a second straight national champion — and this time it was Princeton, which stormed through Memorial Day weekend and buried Notre Dame 16-9 to end a quarter-century title drought.

In the Ivy race itself, Cornell and Princeton shared the regular-season crown at 5-1, with the Big Red claiming the No. 1 seed on a head-to-head win before Princeton flipped the script in the tournament final, 19-9, at Schoellkopf Field. Yale (4-2) and Harvard (3-3) rounded out a top four that had all seven league programs ranked or receiving votes nationally at some point during the spring.

Now the page turns. The portal has reshuffled rosters, a decorated senior class has graduated, and a freshman group led by Princeton's historic five-star haul is arriving on campus. Here is 360LAX's position-by-position premiere of the 2027 Ivy League men's lacrosse season.

The Defending Champions: Princeton

Head coach Matt Madalon's Tigers went 17-2 and return the league's most dangerous offensive core. Tewaaraton finalist Nate Kabiri (39 goals, 48 assists) is back for his senior year, and he's flanked by initiator Colin Burns (37g, 19a), outside threat Tucker Wade (39g, 8a), and rising junior Parker Reynolds (16g, 20a). Lefty Peter Buonanno, who flashed in fall ball before a midseason injury, adds another wrinkle.

The close defense is fully intact — Jack Stahl, Hunter Spiess, and Finn Fox — and short sticks Jackson Green and Cooper Mueller return to anchor the midfield defense.

The two holes are obvious: goalie and the faceoff dot. Ryan Croddick (.566, 9.69 GAA) graduated as the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, and faceoff man Andrew McMeekin (57.7%) departed alongside offensive starters Chad Palumbo (48g, 31a) and John Dunphey (21g, 18a). Seniors Colin Vickrey and Carter Johnson have just 71:57 of college cage time between them — which is exactly why Madalon went out and signed the top goalie in the freshman class (more on that below).

LSM Nick Crowley, a 2026 First Team All-Ivy long pole, transferred to Rutgers, thinning the defensive midfield.

The Challenger: Cornell

The Big Red exceeded expectations under head coach Connor Buczek, earning Coaching Staff of the Year honors, but 2027 will test their depth. The engine returns: Willem Firth, the unanimous Ivy Attacker of the Year, is back after a 43-goal, 25-assist campaign that ranked fourth nationally in goals per game (3.31) and second in points per game (5.23). Fellow attackman Ryan Goldstein and goaltender Matthew Tully also return, and Cornell added a portal piece in Justin Tavares, a freshman midfielder arriving from Denver.

The losses, though, are severe. Faceoff specialist and Ivy Midfielder of the Year Jack Cascadden (62.9% at the dot, sixth in the NCAA) has graduated, along with unanimous First Team defenseman Brendan Staub, close D partner Matt Dooley, long stick Eddie Rayhill, short stick Charlie Box, and midfielder Brian Luzzi. Replacing the possession machine that is Cascadden — who won all eight fourth-quarter draws in a comeback at Denver — is the single biggest question in the Ivy League this spring.

Yale: The Dark Horse

The Bulldogs may have the league's most intriguing young roster. Sean Grogan, the 2026 Ivy Rookie of the Year (28g, 17a, 45 points), headlines an attack that returns Second Team midfielders Peter Moynihan and Cole Cashion and rising sophomore attackman Connor Gately. Long stick Luke Michalik and sophomore goalie Ben Friedman (.515) give Andy Shay defensive continuity.

Yale does lose two cornerstone defensemen in Patrick Pisano (First Team) and Konrad Miklaszewski (Second Team), so how quickly the next layer develops will decide whether the Bulldogs can push Princeton and Cornell for the top seed.

Harvard, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth

Harvard graduates its two First Team pillars — midfielder Logan Ip (a two-time selection) and LSM Sean Jordan — plus Second Team attackman Teddy Malone and midfielder John Aurandt IV. But the Crimson return attackman Jack Speidell and freshman defender Quinn Kelly, and they landed the most important recruit in the league outside of Princeton: five-star goalie Teddy Oh (more below). Short stick Finn Jensen departed via the portal for Notre Dame.

Penn is the league's rising program in its second year under Taylor Wray. The Quakers return five of six All-Ivy honorees, including second-teamers Anthony McMullan (SSDM), Matthew Till (LSM), and Dante Vardaro (close D), honorable mention midfielder Ben Beacham, and team-high scorer Davis Provost (32g) at attack. Faceoff man Quinn Ball (64.0%) is back after a strong freshman year. The Quakers did lose faceoff depth — grad transfer Ethan Costanzo left for Richmond — but the core is intact and an NCAA push is realistic.

Brown loses First Team midfielder Marcus Wertheim and senior defenseman Trey Taylor, but faceoff man Henry Brayer returns to keep the Bears competitive at the dot.

Dartmouth is the league's most active portal program. The Big Green added goaltender Andrew Cook (a redshirt sophomore) and midfielder Michael Rooney from Boston University, while returning attackman Alex Jessey and long stick Will Cohen. Faceoff specialist Phil Minardo also transfers in from RIT.

The Transfer Portal's Ivy Impact

A quick scoreboard of the portal's most consequential Ivy moves:

• Cornell adds: Justin Tavares (M, from Denver)
• Dartmouth adds: Andrew Cook (G), Michael Rooney (M, from Boston University), Phil Minardo (FO, from RIT)
• Penn loses: Ethan Costanzo (FO, grad transfer to Richmond)
• Harvard loses: Finn Jensen (SSDM, grad transfer to Notre Dame)
• Princeton loses: Nick Crowley (LSM, grad transfer to Rutgers)

The pattern is familiar: Ivy League and mid-major players continue to feed the ACC and Big Ten, while the Ivies selectively补充 their own needs — particularly in goal and at the faceoff dot.

The Freshmen: Princeton's Five-Star Haul

The story of the 2027 recruiting cycle in the Ivy League is Princeton's class, which landed five NLF five-stars — the most of any Ivy program and tied for the deepest class in the country.

• Riley Woods (No. 4 overall, Attack, Culver) — The top lefty goal-scorer in the class; 56 goals this spring and a Canadian release that barely needs the ball. The heir apparent to Palumbo on the first attack line.
• Jackson Crowell (Goalie, New Canaan/Eclipse) — Stopped 62 percent this spring and is one of the best athletes in a loaded goalie class. He's the leading candidate to succeed Croddick immediately.
• Jack Czepiel (No. 12, Defense, Tabor/Laxachusetts) — The premier lefty defender in the class; an on-ball pitbull who can run with anyone.
• Fin Kilbourne (No. 16, Midfield, St. Paul's/Laxachusetts) — A downhill horse who becomes a problem once he gets going.
• John Lynch (No. 20, Midfield, Belmont Hill) — A lefty feeder and initiator who put up 72 points to help Belmont Hill repeat as ISL champs.

Harvard secured the other Ivy five-star: Teddy Oh (No. 6, Goalie, Taft/ADVNC), who stopped 62 percent and backstopped ADVNC to a CrabFeast title. He gives the Crimson an immediate answer in the cage.

No other Ivy program landed a five-star, which makes Princeton's margin at the top — on paper — even wider heading into the fall.

Our 2027 Ivy League Champion: Princeton

The case is straightforward. The Tigers return a Tewaaraton-level attackman in Kabiri, a loaded first midfield, and the league's only fully intact close defense anchored by the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. Their two structural concerns — goal and the faceoff dot — are addressed as well as any program could: Crowell is the top freshman goalie in the country, and Princeton's decades-long track record of developing netminders under Madalon and defensive coordinator Jeremy Hirsch suggests the cage will be fine.

Cornell will be dangerous — Firth is the single best player in the league, and Buczek's staff has earned the benefit of the doubt — but replacing Cascadden's possession dominance and an entire defensive senior class in one offseason is a tall order against Princeton's continuity. Yale is a year away from its true window, Penn is a quarterfinal dark horse, and Harvard's freshman goalie accelerates the rebuild but the Crimson lost too much veteran polish to win the league in 2027.

The pick: Princeton repeats as Ivy League champion, and with the way the roster is constructed — elite returning offense, a championship close defense, and the nation's best freshman class filling its only holes — the Tigers are the early favorite to contend for a second straight national title as well.

360LAX will have updated Ivy League predictions as rosters settle through the fall and early spring. Check back for our weekly Ivy Notebook once the season opens in February.