In a game that was a tale to two halves, the Colgate Raiders (0-3) went into Princeton to challenge the Tigers (2-0) on a February Tuesday evening.
A ten goal run blew a one-goal game wide open but, the story was Senior, Michael Sowers.
A Philadelphia area native, Sowers set the Ivy League for assists in a game (11) and points in a game (14).
The first matchup between the squads since 1929 was a tight battle for thirty minutes.
Ryan Decker (1g,1a) put Colgate in front at the 12:45 mark.
The Sowers show kicked off when he assisted on a Chris Brown (3g) net bender.
On the advantage, Sowers sent a pretty pass to Will Kuznierek (1 g) to push it to a 2-1 Tigers lead.
It took all of :15 for Sowers to change hats and become a goal scorer off a Jake Stevens helped at the 7:28 mark.
Sowers added his second just thirty-five seconds later to push the score to 4-1.
Colgate ended the surge with tallies from James Caddigan (3a) and Griffin Brown (1g,1a) before Alexander Vardaro (2g,1a) closed the quarter with Princeton holding on to a 5-3 lead.
Brian Minicus (1g,5a) started on a career day and followed by a game-tying goal from Nicky Petkevich (1g).
Phillip Robertson (3g) put Princeton back to a one-goal lead at 6-5 but Minicus set up Caddigan on the advantage to counter.
Sowers put his cape back on and fed Vardaro and Phillip Robertson to close the half with the Tigers growling, 8-6.
Sowers was sitting on six points with two goals and assists to four separate players.
Parker Baddley (1g, 1a) scored a highlight long pole goal to close the gap to one goal, 8-7.
And then, the bottom dropped out for Colgate. The remainder of the third saw Princeton tear-off eight goals furnished by Sowers setting up Connor McCarthy (1g), Brown, and Jamie Atkinson on the advantage for his seventh helper to seven different teammates.
Stevens, Sowers, another from Atkinson and one additional from Stevens with just 00:07 left to close the half with a 17-7 score.
Brown kicked off the fourth followed by a Robertson marker to bring the Tiger revolt to 10 goals at 17:00.
Colgate did not roll over and went on a four-goal run with goals from Mike Hawkins (1g), Cooper Belanger (2g), Caddigan and Belanger.
Princeton fired back with goals from Sam English (1g) and Tommy Barndts (1g) that closed the book.
Dis and Dat: Minicus set a career-high in assists (5) and points (6).
Princeton’s George Baughn, recovering from an injury, forced three turnovers.
Princeton had the edge in shots, 54-47 while Colgate took the face-off battle, 19-14.
Loose balls were even at 40-40.
Sowers opens the season with a breathtaking, 7 goals and 18 assists in just two games.
Concerning his performance, the humble Sowers had this to say… (courtesy of Princeton Lacrosse)
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
Kevin has followed and promoted the game of lacrosse since May 19, 1974.
The same day the Philadelphia Flyers won the Cup, the Philadelphia Wings were introduced to Neibauer and Philadelphia.
Kevin has covered many sports, including baseball, football, basketball, and.. lacrosse. A former licensed football referee and baseball umpire, Kevin brings a unique insight to his game coverage.
A published writer in JustHockey Magazine, Kevin covered the American Hockey League as well as a monthly story on a pugilist where Kevin used the pen name, The Rink Rat. Neibauer turned his attentions to lacrosse for a few years and does his part, whether podcasting or writing to grow the game. Kevin branched out to his roots and currently provides insight for all Philadelphia teams for Edge of Philly as well as his full-time duties with LaxPhilly.
