Syracuse men’s lacrosse: Mike Powell to have jersey retired

He’s one of the greatest players in the history of lacrosse, and now his jersey will be forever immortalized by the Syracuse Orange.

On Monday, Syracuse announced that Mike Powell will have his No. 22 jersey retired at a ceremony this season on Saturday, March 11 at the JMA Wireless Dome when the Orange host Johns Hopkins.

Powell becomes the second men’s lacrosse player to have his jersey retired by Syracuse and the third overall after Gary Gait and Katie Rowan had theirs retired last year.

In addition to being one of the greatest in the sport’s history, Powell is also one of the best and most exciting athletes to ever don a Syracuse uniform in any sport. His game was defined by other-worldly quickness and exceptional stick skills that made him downright electric. The way he played made him an inspiration to an entire generation of young lacrosse players. If you were lucky enough to watch him play, you’ll never forget it.

The excitement that he generated over the course of his legendary career totaled itself into a list of accomplishments and accolades that place him in a category nearly by himself.

He was the first two-time winner of the Tewaaraton Trophy (Lyle Thompson being the only other, although he shared one of them with his brother, Miles), and is the only ‘Cuse men’s lacrosse player to earn first-team All-American honors in all four years of his career. He’s also the only ever four-time winner of the Jack Turnbull Award, presented annually to the best attackman in the nation.

On top of everything else, he also knew how to deliver when it mattered most. He was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team three times and won the W.H. Brine Award, given to the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Division I Championship game, both times SU won the title with him in 2002 and 2004.

Powell, who played for SU from 2001-2004, is the program’s all-time leading scorer with 307 points, surpassing the previous record of 287 held by both of his brothers, Casey and Ryan. He’s one of the most balanced players in school history, as his 150 goals is sixth-most and his 157 assists is fourth-most. In NCAA Tournaments, he has the most assists (34 in 13 games) and second-most points (58) of any SU player all-time.

However you slice it, you come up with Mike Powell as one of the greatest Syracuse athletes and lacrosse players ever. And now, he will take his rightful place up in the Dome rafters.

Congratulations to Mike on this incredible and well-deserved honor! March 11 is going to be quite the day inside the JMA Dome.

In the meantime, please enjoy some highlights of Mike doing Mike things during his Syracuse days: