Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/15/20
From Press Release
Michael Sowers (Upper Dublin) fed Chris Brown in front for what briefly seemed like a layup, only to have Monmouth goalie Noah Lade rob Brown on the doorstep.
Oh well. Sowers had to settle for tying his school record for points in a game.
Sowers, a first-team All-America and Tewaaraton Award finalist a year ago, began his senior season in impressive style, with four goals and seven assists to lead Princeton to a 20-9 win over Monmouth Saturday afternoon. The 11-point day tied the school single-game record, a mark Sowers already held along with David Tickner and David Heubeck.
The win came on opening day of the 112th season of Princeton men’s lacrosse. The Tigers host Colgate Tuesday night in Game 2 before heading to defending NCAA champion Virginia this coming Saturday.
It took Sowers 1:31 to get going, as he assisted on freshman Alex Slusher’s goal to get things started. By the end of the first quarter Sowers had five points (3G, 2A), and those numbers grew to four goals and five assists for nine points by halftime, when Princeton led 11-5.
Sowers wasn’t the only Princeton player to have a big day. Slusher, a member of the U.S. U19 team roster, had a three-goal, one-assist debut, and Phillip Robertson (Duke’s LC) scored five goals, three of which were assisted by Sowers.
Chris Brown, Connor McCarthy and Alexander Vardaro had two goals each. For Brown, that meant he continued his streak of having at least one goal in every game of his career, a run that is now at 28 straight, the second-longest active streak in Division I.
Princeton built leads of 3-0 and 6-1 in the first quarter, and Monmouth would get no closer than three after that, at 6-3 at the end of the first quarter. Princeton scored the first five goals of the second quarter, from five different players, one each by McCarthy, Robertson, Brown, Will Kusnierek and finally Sowers, who assisted on three of of the other four during that run.
If his 11 points weren’t enough, Sowers also caused two turnovers on the ride. Princeton also had four other players with two caused turnovers – Beau Pederson, Jacob Stoebener, Nick Bauer and Sam English, who added a team-best five ground balls.
Princeton outshot Monmouth 47-33 and won 21 of 33 face-offs, led by Jack-Henry Vara, who went 18 for 27.
Brock Anderson (Ridley) had three goals for Monmouth while Chris Hervada (Haverford School) had three groundballs and acaused urnover and Matt Souter (Lenape).
