Delco’s Andrew McMeekin, one of the NCAA’s best in faceoffs, is Princeton’s ‘game-changing player’

The passion began in his backyard, playing with his neighbors, trying to imitate what they saw on television. It is slightly unusual what he does, admits Andrew McMeekin.

The Princeton senior, who graduated from Episcopal Academy in 2022, has been the faceoff, or “X,” man for the Tigers the last three years.

McMeekin equates it to being the center who takes tipoff in basketball or in hockey at the faceoff circle. Only in lacrosse, it’s part rugby scrum, part grass ballet, with two centers who are crouched interlocking their shoulders, ramming into each other for possession of the ball. To do it well, McMeekin jokes, you have to be part caveman, and part cerebral in how to navigate your body to scoop up the loose ball.

It’s the most demanding position on a lacrosse field, and a good faceoff man in lacrosse can make or break a season.

McMeekin is a big reason why the No. 1-seeded Ivy League champion Tigers (14-2) have reached the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals, where they will meet eighth-seeded Big Ten champion Penn State (10-5) at the University of Delaware at noon on Sunday.

He is Princeton’s career record holder for faceoff wins (659) and groundballs (417), holds the school single-season record for ground balls (132 in 2024), and is the only player in program history with three seasons with at least 100 groundballs.

He has won 191 faceoffs this season and ranks No. 22 overall in faceoff winning percentage (.579 winning 191 of 330 faceoffs) in the NCAA.

McMeekin is among the strongest players on Princeton’s team, and is a rangy at 6-foot-1, 225 pounds. He isn’t the prototype collegiate faceoff man. He’s more like the tall jockey you rarely see on a horse.

Playing the position is “like a fight with mental challenges, because it takes a lot of mental work,” McMeekin said. “I’m lucky to have a faceoff coach like Casey Dowd, and get feedback from team players like Jim Williams, because it is a demanding position. You try to lock into a routine where you keep your technique and execute on the field how you practice.

“But you are out there. You at the center of everything, because if you lose a faceoff, or a number of faceoffs, a game can be lost on what you do. There is a meathead aspect to it, where you are shoulder-to-shoulder and you do everything to get to that ball, sometimes even punching your way to it. You don’t have time to dwell when you lose a faceoff, because the next score, you are right back out there.”

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Last Sunday, in Princeton’s dominant 17-8 win over Marist in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, McMeekin won 11 of 15 faceoffs after a slow start. Against Cornell, the defending 2025 national champions, McMeekin pulled 14 of 26 faceoffs in the Ivy League championship and 12 of 21 against Yale in the Ivy League semifinals.

“I do find it funny because you see the different body shapes it takes to be a quality faceoff man, and Andrew is like an athletic specimen, but he doesn’t have any of those physical metrics you normally see at the position,” Dowd said, laughing. “Andrew is incredible, but it is his ability to adapt that makes him special. He’s not built low to the ground, like you normally see at the X. These guys are normally human bowling balls. Then you look at guys like [North Carolina’s] Brady Wambach who are so much smaller and so much lighter than anyone else, and he’s winning faceoffs.

“We’re super fortunate because we have four guys in our faceoff room that are all connected. Jim Williams makes sure Andrew knows where to set his feet, body position, hand position, quiet his brain, but there is a whole checklist of things to lock into.”

McMeekin’s style is centered on controlled chaos, taking his data points, his positioning, and applying them. He wins many faceoffs to himself, while most faceoff men would steer the ball out to one of the wing players converging from either side of the field.

“You do have to have an attitude when you’re at the X,” said McMeekin, who grew up in Marple Newtown, Delaware County, and will graduate Princeton with a degree in sociology, looking to get in the finance world or possibly attend business school. “Playing the position much more mental than people know. You’re doing a lot of things to set up openings, while grunting it out.”

McMeekin knows he will have his hands full against Penn State pair Colby Baldwin and Reid Gills, who combined to win 14 of 24 faceoffs in the Nittany Lions’ 13-7 victory in Princeton’s season opener back in February. It’s the only time this season that the Tigers, ranked No. 3 in offense averaging 14.88 goals, were held under double figures.

“We’re not that team, we’re completely different from who we were in February,” McMeekin said, who won 7 of 19 faceoffs in that game. “I tend to settle in after the first few faceoffs, like I did against Marist on Sunday. But that Penn State game was probably one of my worst games this season. It’s great we have all the tools to succeed and we control our own destiny.

“I still have to go out there and do my job. I like where we are. I’m playing confident. I have seen a lot of scenarios. … We have plans in motion and it should be good. We’ll be much more controlled and more efficient in every facet of the game.”

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Princeton coach Matt Madalon is certainly expecting a different Tigers team to show up on Sunday. Much will depend on McMeekin, who feels he has some making up to do since the season opener.

“Andrew pays attention to detail, his body, his health, it’s remarkable considering the physical grind the X goes through,” Madalon said. “His mental preparation means putting together win packages, how to adapt and being coachable in the moment. Andrew is mission critical for us, and we will go as far as he takes us, and that is not to put any pressure on him. But he’s such a game-changing player as far as momentum, and his versatility makes him the best. He’s shouldered the warrior mentality for us.

“All the best faceoff guys like going against the best, and Penn State has two great ones. … There has been a lot of growth individually, and as a team. We’re excited to get another shot.”