Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/21/17
From Press Release
Michael Sowers (Upper Dublin) began his week by being named the No. 1 freshman in Division I by Inside Lacrosse magazine. Then he went out and showed why in Princeton’s two games.
The freshman from outside Philadelphia began his week with three goals and two assists in a 16-11 loss to Rutgers, who is now the No. 1 team in the country and who got there built on its defense. He then matched that total against Penn – in the first 23 minutes – and then kept going from there, finishing with five goals and four assists in Princeton’s 17-8 win over the Quakers in the Ivy opener for both.
Michael Sowers (Photo by Robert Goldstein)
Added together, it came to an eight-goal, six-assist, 14-point week for Sowers. It also earned him both the Ivy League Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week honors.
It marked the third time this season that he has been named the Ivy Rookie of the Week.
Sowers now has 40 points (19G, 21A) in just seven games, making him the second-fastest Princeton player ever to reach 40 points in a season, one behind Mike MacDonald from two years ago (when MacDonald, a senior, set the school record with 78 points) and one ahead of Kevin Lowe, who had 39 points in the first seven games of his senior year, 1994.
After just these seven games – or half the regular season – Sowers trails only Lowe (43A, 55 Pts) and Ryan Boyle (37A, 53Pts) among Princeton freshman for a full season. Sowers currently ranks third in Division I in assists per game and fourth in Division I points per game.
The five goals and nine points against Penn were single-game highs for Sowers. He’s also the 13th player in program history to have at least nine points in a single game, and only Lowe ever had more as a freshman, with his 10-point game in 1991 against Yale.
Speaking of Yale, the Bulldogs will be in Princeton Friday to take on Tigers in a game that begins at 2 and can be seen on ESPNU. The last seven regular-season games between Princeton and Yale, and eight of the last nine games including Ivy tournament games, have been decided by one-goal. Each of the last three have been by an 11-10 score.
Princeton moved up to No. 13 in the media poll.