Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/18/20
From Press Release
The Princeton men’s lacrosse team had a two-goal lead over Colgate at the half before the Raiders scored 17 seconds into the third quarter. Now it was as one-goal game, and now Colgate had the momentum.
Then Michael Sowers (Upper Dublin) exploded.
Well, he sort of exploded before that, since he already had more points to that juncture of the game than about 80 percent of players have for a career high. This is Michael Sowers, though, so his explosion is on a whole different level.
Princeton answered that Colgate goal with 10 straight over the next 16:20, and that run featured a goal and, wait for it, seven assists from Sowers. When it ended Sowers had himself the Ivy League record for points in a game and the Princeton record for assists in a game, Princeton had itself a win and the entire crowd at Sherrerd Field was left with jaws dropped in awe of what they had just seen.
Sowers finished the game with an insane 14 points on three goals and 11 assists as Princeton ran past Colgate 20-11. The record-setting night ran Sowers’ two-game point total to 25, with seven goals and 18 assists.
“He does everything so fluidly, and he showed you that tonight,” said Princeton head coach Matt Madalon. “He always has his head up. He sees the field. He gets everyone involved. I’m his coach, but at times you can’t help but take a step back and just be a lacrosse fan when you see him play.”
It was all a showcase of all of his remarkable skills, as he found teammate after teammate for layup after layup. He spread the offense out with assists to seven different players, and he made it all look so effortless.
He actually would have had way more than he did were it not for Colgate goalie Sean Collins, who robbed Sowers of four more assists with point-blank saves. And, in typical fashion, the always understated and humble Sowers gave the credit to everyone else.
“I’m very excited to be 2-0,” he said. “It was my night tonight but it was just part of our system. Our systems put us in the right spots to make plays, and I was lucky to take advantage of it.”
Sowers got off to a fast start, with two goals and two assists in the first 8:34 of the game. He had two goals and four assists by halftime, but he was just getting warmed up at that point.
He finished the night one assist away from tying the NCAA record and two points away from tying the NCAA record, and he didn’t step on the field for the final 9:23 of the game.
The balanced Princeton offense saw three other players score three goals as Phillip Robertson (Duke’s LC), Chris Brown and Jake Stevens all did so, while Alexander Vardaro and Jamie Atkinson had two each. Sam English and Tommy Barnds both had the first goal of his career.
Defenseman George Baughan (Springfield-Montco), returning from a preseason injury, had three caused turnovers, and Jake Stevens finished with an incredible stat line of three goals, two caused turnovers and six ground balls.
But this night belonged to Sowers. Already Princeton’s leader in career points after his junior season, the first-team All-America and Tewaaraton Award finalist one-upped anything he’d ever done before.
When the schedule first came out, the idea of a Tuesday night men’s lacrosse game in mid-February game conjured up images of frozen temperatures and a snow-lined field. Instead, it was around 50 and pleasant Tuesday night in .
There was still a blizzard at Sherrerd Field, though.
This one came courtesy of Michael Sowers, who left Sherrerd Field covered not in flakes but in records.
