Prior to the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament, Princeton was voted as national champion six times, in 1884, 1885, 1937, 1942, 1951, and 1953.

[9] Between 1967 and 1992 Princeton won no Ivy League championships, while Cornell was the dominant conference power.

[9] 1997 is regarded as the best in school history with a record number of wins during its 15–0 season and 10 All-Americans plus 13 All-Ivy League selections.

On the non-conference slate is the annual rivalry with Johns Hopkins, first played in 1890 and a constant national fixture since the 1990s.

[14] Princeton also plays Rutgers for the Meistrell Cup in honor of Harland (Tots) Meistrell who restarted the dormant lacrosse program at Rutgers in 1920 and then restarted the dormant lacrosse program at Princeton in 1921.

The team has also had numerous national position awardees: five Ensign C. Markland Kelly, Jr.

[10] From 1936 through 1970, the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) awarded the Wingate Memorial Trophy to the annual champion, based on regular-season records.

In 1971, the NCAA began hosting an annual men's tournament to determine the national champion.

[3] The following players have been recognized with conference or national honors and awards for their play:[3][13][81][82] First Team Second Team National Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductees:[83] Michael Sowers holds the school career scoring record with 302 points (2017–20), as well as the single-season record with 90 (2019).

Trevor Tierney was twice a national statistical champion: goals against average (2001, 5.70) and save percentage (2001, .671).

Conference tournament champion † NCAA canceled 2020 collegiate activities due to the COVID-19 virus.