Fifth-year senior attackman George Prince has put together one of the greatest careers in the modern era of Dartmouth men’s lacrosse. This season he led the team in goals with 25 and assists with 19. His assist tally ranked ninth amongst all Ivy League players, making Prince the first Dartmouth player since 2015 to be in the top 10 of an offensive statistical category at the conclusion of conference play. On March 19 against St. John’s University, Prince also became the 23rd Dartmouth player ever to reach 100 career points and the first since 2010. Now sitting at 122 points for his career, Prince is the 17th highest point scorer in the program’s 96-year history.
Prince picked up a lacrosse stick much later than most players at his level, as he did not play competitively until seventh grade. He had his fair share of talent, but the delayed start to his career meant that he had some imbalances in his game.
“As I was going through the recruiting process I found that my biggest skill was distributing and feeding, but my scoring ability needed a lot of work,” Prince said. “As I've had more time and had phenomenal coaching from [head coach Brendan] Callahan and our offensive coordinator [Joe] Conner I’ve been able to turn something that was formerly a weakness into a strength.”
While Prince is inclined to deflect praise for his success onto his coaching staff or teammates, Callahan said he had numerous stories to share of Prince’s incredible work ethic.
“I remember coming out after a game his freshman year and after everybody else had gotten showered, changed and gone on to the tailgate to meet the parents there was one guy left on the field.” Callahan said. “[Prince] had just played a two-hour game and he went back out to get extra shots in immediately after.”
The work paid off, even in his freshman year, when Prince was one of three players to appear in and start all 13 games.
Prince’s teammate and fellow attackman Colin McGill ’25 similarly noted Prince’s dedication to the program.
“On the field, [Prince] is strictly business,” he said. “Me and my buddy have this game every day where we try to get to the locker room before [Prince]. If we win the race we let him hear about it, but we have to get there pretty early to beat him.”
Despite considerable improvement to his game, the areas that Prince felt he had developed the most were off the field.
“Coming into Dartmouth it’s very intimidating to be surrounded by a lot of extremely intelligent athletes and it’s very easy to feel like you don’t have much of a voice in the team,” he said. “Over my time here I’ve done things like Drive, the [Dartmouth Peak Performance] leader lab, and individual sessions with Coach Callahan — we sort of have a book club — that have helped me gain the ability to build relationships with my teammates, be tough when it matters and do what’s necessary to move the team forward.”
Prince began to hit his stride during the 2020 season, leading the team in points and ranking seventh in the Ivy League. He was aided by a career-high nine-point masterpiece against Merrimack College, making him the only player in the Ivy League to have that many points in a game that season other than two-time Tewaaraton Award finalist Michael Sowers, who played four years at Princeton University. That promising season was then cut short by COVID-19 and the 2021 season was canceled. These obstacles led Prince to make the decision to use his extra year of eligibility and return as a fifth-year.
“The biggest thing, as cheesy as it is, was that I wanted to leave the jersey better than I found it,” he said. “The Ivy League is an extremely competitive conference and I want to make it so that the guys in the future are in the same position as the other teams in it: top 10 in the country.”
Callahan added that Prince’s impact on the team extended beyond his years captaining.
He's a two-time captain for us, but he's been a squad leader for us for four years,” he said. “When you have a guy who works as hard as he does and sets the bar so high you can't help but be magnetized to him and he’s pushed our team to new levels.”
McGill echoed Callahan’s sentiment about Prince’s ability to elevate the energy of the team
“He's the quarterback of our offense and we get a boost whenever he’s in,” McGill said. “He played a huge part in helping me gain the confidence that I needed as a freshman. He put a lot of trust in me by passing me the ball, which has helped me grow as a player.”
Looking back on his career, Prince said that he has two clear cut favorite moments, and they both involve playmaking with his younger brother, Colin Prince ’22. When Colin was a freshman, George assisted his brother on his first career goal at Dartmouth. This season, Colin “returned the favor” during a game against Princeton University — the number two team in the country — and assisted George on a goal.
“We grew up playing in the backyard and seeing it come to fruition at the highest level was really special,” George said.
Next year, Prince will move to New York City to work at the investment bank Jefferies Group in its healthcare group. However, Dartmouth lacrosse is far from out of his life.
“I will stay involved through a program we have set up where alumni can volunteer to go and watch high school games and report back on recruits,” he said. “I’m really excited about it because it will be a way for me to stay in contact with the coaching staff and help the program stay great.”
