Jesse Hubbard - College Career

College Career

When Hubbard went to Princeton, he was expected to be one of the key incoming midfielders. Hubbard became was part of a trio of revered attackmen who were Princeton classmates along with Jon Hess and Chris Massey. As starters, the trio of All-Americans, which retired second (Hess), third (Hubbard) and fourth (Massey) in career points at Princeton, had a 43–2 record and combined for 618 points. He was a first team USILA All-American Team selection in 1996 and 1998 and second team selection in 1997. He was also first team All-Ivy League in 1996 (when he was Ivy League Player of the Year), 1997 and 1998 and a second team selection in 1995 (when he was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year). The 1995 team, which earned the school's sixth consecutive NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship invitation, was Ivy League co-champion, while the 1996–1998 teams were 6–0 undefeated outright conference champions. These undefeated league champions won the 1996, 1997 and 1998 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championships, becoming the first team to threepeat since Syracuse from 1988–90 and the first to be recognized to have done so without an NCAA scandal since Johns Hopkins from 1978–80.

In 1996, he earned co-Ivy League Player of the year by recording six or more goals four times during the regular season. In the 1996 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament quarterfinals 22–6 victory over Towson State, Hubbard again scored six goals. Hubbard added three more goals in the championship game against Virginia including the first goal and the final goal in overtime of the 13–12 victory. In the 1997 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament quarterfinals, he again scored six goals in a 11–9 victory over the UMass. He scored in the semifinal 10–9 victory over Duke, and he scored four goals in the 19–7 championship victory against Maryland. The 1997 team is regarded as the best in school history with a record number of wins during its 15–0 season. He served as co-captain of the 1998 team. He scored three goals in the 1998 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament 11–10 semifinal victory over Syracuse. He also scored four goals and added six assists in the 15–5 championship game victory over Maryland.

When Hubbard was on the field, the Princeton offense was explosive. Hubbard holds the Princeton University single-season (53, 1996) and career (163, 1995–98) goals records. He also broke Kevin Lowe's school single-season points record of 69 in 1996 by three, but Hess broke the record in 1997 with 76 points. Hubbard's 23 goals as a freshman was a Princeton freshman record until B. J. Prager posted 25 in 1999. Hubbard threatened the Ivy League record for career goals in conference games needing just eight in his final two games, but as of 2010, Jon Reese's 1990 record remained on the books. He was named number 11 of the top 20 athletes in Princeton Tiger history by the Daily Princetonian.