L

ess than 10 days removed from the cancellation of his senior season, Michael Sowers did what he’s always done to cope in times of doubt.

He played lacrosse.

Sowers ventured to Sparks Field at Upper Dublin High School, the Philadelphia-area venue where he wreaked havoc on opposing quarterbacks on Friday nights in the fall, threaded many of his national-record 402 assists in the spring and trained relentlessly in the summer.

“Being a coach's son, he always knew a little more than everyone else on the court or on the field,” Upper Dublin football coach Bret Stover said in February. “And he worked harder than anyone else on the field and in the offseason, too.”

For Sowers, the nostalgia and respite did not last long. 

“I was up there this morning just shooting around, but they kicked everybody off the field and chained up the fence,” Sowers said last Friday. “So that was the last of that.”

Upheaval is the new norm for Sowers, the Princeton attackman who had established himself as the clear Tewaaraton Award frontrunner before the Ivy League and then the NCAA ended all spring sports in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S.

The Tigers, who were 5-0 and ranked No. 2 in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men’s Top 20, looked like they had all the necessary pieces to make their first NCAA tournament since 2012. On Feb. 22, they toppled reigning national champion Virginia 16-12 in a game that Princeton’s senior communications advisor and historian, Jerry Price, wrote “was more than just the Michael Sowers show.”

Sowers still had eight points, part of a torrid five-game stretch in which he averaged 9.4 points per game, putting him on pace to eclipse Lyle Thompson’s NCAA single-season record of 128. But the victory over the Cavaliers also demonstrated Princeton’s balance and depth. Sowers’ linemates, senior Phillip Robertson and junior Chris Brown, each scored four goals. Erik Peters made a career-high 16 saves. The first-line midfield of Connor McCarthy, Alexander Vardaro and Alex Slusher accounted for 31 goals through five games.

Now we won’t get to see if Sowers could have kept up his record-setting pace or how the Tigers might have fared in an Ivy League race that included two other teams — Cornell and Yale — ranked in the top five nationally. Princeton was preparing to play defending league champion Penn when its potentially historic season came to a screeching halt.

While the NCAA said it would encourage all three divisions to provide “eligibility relief” for spring athletes, it has yet to provide the framework to do so. Ivy League rules prohibit graduate students from competing in sports.

"My dream would be to be back in a Princeton uniform," Sowers said. "That’s the goal right now to make that happen, but we haven't gotten much clarification from the Ivy League in terms of how to actually do that. We’re just patiently waiting to see what happens."

Sowers has something left to prove. Princeton’s all-time leading scorer has made just one postseason appearance, an Ivy League semifinal loss to Brown his freshman year.

“He has worked so hard,” Sowers’ mother, Elizabeth, said the day before Princeton’s season began and her oldest son matched his career high with 11 points against Monmouth. “I wish I could put an order in for that [NCAA tournament appearance] and make it happen, but I don't have control over that.” 

While Sowers got to this point by focusing on what he could control — his team’s fate was out of his hands. It was all so sudden. The Tigers didn’t even get a full team photo. Hours before the Ivy League announcement, the Princeton lacrosse social account shared pictures from a recent practice at Finney Field, captioned with two words: “Work week.” A day later, the account featured an image of the team huddled on Sherrerd Field.

“Time is finite,” the tweet said. “Surround yourself with people you'll enjoy it with.” 

The only other post on March 12 was a 38-second message from Sowers. Though described as quiet by those who know him best, he was the first well-known college lacrosse player to speak out about the cancellation. He did not dwell on Princeton nor did he condemn the Ivy League’s decision as premature, as some did before a cascade of cancellations soon made it clear that nearly all sports everywhere would be on hiatus.

While Sowers and his teammates were rightfully upset when they learned the news from coach Matt Madalon and Princeton athletic director Mollie Marcoux, they soon realized that night after the NBA season was suspended that the disruption would affect more than their team, the Ivy League or lacrosse.

“We hope everyone stays safe,” Sowers said in the video released by Princeton’s athletic department. 

Whereas fellow 2019 Tewaaraton finalist Grant Ament made news over the weekend when he declared for the Premier Lacrosse League draft, Sowers said he’d discuss his next steps with his family once his options become clearer. The NCAA Division I Council Coordination Committee agreed eligibility relief is appropriate for spring sports. The statement sounds good in principle, but it leaves no shortage of questions about how it will work at the conference and school levels. 

Sowers said he has tried to stay busy. He gets his competitive fix by playing his younger brothers, Nick and Andrew, in “NCAA Football” on Xbox. He recorded a tutorial of one of his footwork drills that ESPN analyst Paul Carcaterra shared with his followers. It has more than 14,000 views on Twitter. Over the weekend, Sowers took part in the “See 10, Do 10, Send 10 Challenge,” a push-up competition trending on Instagram.

Most of his time over the next few weeks, however, will be occupied “hunkering down” to finish his senior thesis about the Anglo-American Relationship in World War II. The deadline was extended to April 15. Nine days before that, Sowers will take part in the Last Shift, a virtual 5K race in support of the HEADstrong Foundation. Sowers headlines the initiative along with Ament and Stony Brook’s Ally Kennedy. 

“I am just very fortunate to be a part of it,” Sowers said. “It is such a cool idea. At a time when everyone is drawn apart, we're able to come together for a greater cause.”

Sowers has only completed a 5K once before. He loathes long-distance running. Still, he’s confident he’ll be able to go the 3.1 miles.

“By that point, I'll have so much pent-up energy,” he said. “I’ll be ready to go.”