Michael Powell (born October 29, 1982) is an American former professional

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

player who was a four-time First Team All-American at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

, played professional lacrosse for the

Baltimore Bayhawks The Chesapeake Bayhawks were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) professional men's field lacrosse team based in Annapolis, Maryland. They played in the greater Baltimore metro area beginning with the MLL's inaugural 2001 season, as the Baltimore Bayhaw ...

and

Boston Cannons The Boston Cannons are a professional field lacrosse team based in Boston, Massachusetts, that competes in the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL). The team plays its home games at Harvard Stadium. The team competed in Major League Lacrosse (MLL) fro ...

, and played on the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

team in the

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

and

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

World Lacrosse Championships where he was named to the All-World Team. He is the youngest of the three lacrosse-playing Powell brothers ( Ryan and

Casey Powell Casey Powell (born February 18, 1976) is an American retired professional lacrosse player from West Carthage, New York. In 1998, he graduated from Syracuse University, where he was a four-time USILA All-American. Powell was the NCAA Division I ...

). Powell is the only player to win the

Jack Turnbull Award The "Lt. Col. J. I. Turnbull Award"''Go to' (box title is "2009 USILA Coaches of the Year Announced") ''and then scroll down'' to the lower box, entitled "2009 USILA Special Awards". The fourth regular award listed is: "Lt. Col. J. I. Turnbull Award ...

as the top attackman in Division I lacrosse four consecutive times. Powell was also a four-time finalist for the

Tewaaraton Trophy The Tewaaraton Award is an annual award for the most outstanding American college lacrosse men's and women's players, since 2001. It is the lacrosse equivalent of football's Heisman Trophy. The award is presented by The Tewaaraton Foundation and ...

, the collegiate player of the year award, and is one of two male players to win the award twice. He led

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

to two national championships and holds the school record for most career points. Syracuse retired his #22 jersey in 2023. He is widely considered one of the greatest lacrosse players of all time. Powell is now a singer/songwriter and tours both as a solo artist and as a member of his band The Black River. In 2022 Powell started a new band called The Echosound (formerly WADE).

Early life

Powell attended Carthage Senior High School in

Carthage, New York Carthage is a village (New York), village in the town of Wilna, New York, Wilna in Jefferson County, New York, Jefferson County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 3,236 at the 2020 census. The village of Carthage is alo ...

, where he was a high school All-American. He set the New York State high school records for most points in a season with 194 points in 2000, most points in a game with 15 points in 2000, and most assists in a season with 120 assists in 1999 and 115 in 2000.

College career

Powell enrolled at Syracuse in the fall of 2000 as one of the most anticipated recruits in college lacrosse history. He wore the #22 Syracuse jersey, the same number previously worn by both of his older brothers ( Casey and Ryan), and by lacrosse legends

Gary Gait Gary Charles Gait (born April 5, 1967) is a Canadian retired Hall of Fame professional lacrosse player and currently the head coach of the men’s lacrosse team at Syracuse University, where he played the sport collegiately. On January 24, 2017, ...

and Charlie Lockwood.

2001 season

In his freshman season, Michael Powell tallied 30 goals, 40 assists (70 points), and 69 groundballs while leading Syracuse to the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship title game against

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. In the championship game, he scored an unassisted goal with just 16 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime, but Syracuse lost to Princeton on a B.J. Prager goal with 41 seconds left in overtime. Powell became the first player in Syracuse lacrosse history to be named a First Team All-American as a freshman. He was also awarded the

as the nation's top attackman, and was a finalist for the inaugural

2002 season

In 2002, Powell scored 42 goals and 42 assists en route to leading Syracuse to a

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

. With four goals and three assists in the championship game, he was named the NCAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Player and won his first

2003 season

Powell missed the fall 2002 semester and fall practice at Syracuse but was able to regain academic eligibility before the 2003 lacrosse season. Scored 31 goals and 33 assists for 64 points. Despite the aggressive defenses that targeted him during the season, he helped lead Syracuse to the Final Four, of what would eventually be 22 consecutive Final Fours, an NCAA record. Syracuse fell to

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

19–8 in the semifinals.

2004 season

As a senior, Powell led the Orangemen to their ninth NCAA championship. In the NCAA tournament, Syracuse defeated top-seeded

Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he remained for mos ...

in the semifinal round 15–9 and then beat second-seeded

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

in the championship game 14–13. On the season, Powell scored 89 points (47 goals, 42 assists), surpassing the Syracuse record shared by his two older brothers to become the all-time leading scorer at Syracuse with 307 points. That number ties him for 12th all-time in NCAA history. Powell was again selected as a First Team All-American, becoming just the sixth lacrosse player to earn that recognition four times, won his second

, and his first Enners Trophy as the most outstanding player in men's college lacrosse.

Professional career

Following his graduation, Powell surprised many in the lacrosse community when he chose not to play professional lacrosse for

Major League Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001 Major League Lacrosse season, 2001. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This w ...

(MLL) in the 2004 season. Instead, he pursued a career as a professional musician. Powell, along with his two older brothers, also signed an endorsement contract with lacrosse equipment manufacturer Brine, Corp., with Powell working out of Brine's west coast office. Casey and Ryan had previously been employed by

Warrior Sports Warrior Sports, Inc. is an American sports equipment manufacturer based in Warren, Michigan. The company currently focuses on ice hockey and lacrosse, producing sticks, helmets, gloves, goalie masks, and protective gear for both sports. Warrio ...

. In 2005, Powell joined the MLL and was drafted by the

, where he and teammate

led the Bayhawks to the league championship. Powell also played in the

MLL All-Star Game Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game is the all-star game of the MLL. Years 2000s 2001 The inaugural 2001 All-Star Game, was titled the Major League Lacrosse LacrosseStar Game. From 2001–2003, the All-Star Game had the National Division playing ...

, where he was selected as MVP. He sat out the 2006 MLL season. On March 21, 2007, Powell, along with Ben DeFelice and a 2008 conditional draft choice, was traded from the

to the

in exchange for Ryan Curtis and

Conor Gill Conor Gill (born February 6, 1980) is a professional lacrosse player who had an exceptional collegiate career at the University of Virginia before going on to the professional ranks. High school and collegiate career Conor Gill was a standout at ...

. Powell was a member of U.S. World Team in the

2006 World Lacrosse Championship Canada men's national lacrosse team, Canada won its second gold medal at the 2006 World Lacrosse Championship, held in London, Ontario, from 14 to 22 July. The Canadians defeated the United States men's national lacrosse team, United States in th ...

, where he was the U.S.'s leading scorer and was selected to the All-World Team. The U.S. team fell to Canada in the championship game, 15–10, marking the second time the Americans had lost to the Canadians in 14 contests.

Personal life and music career

Powell is a traveling musician and an accomplished writer with over two hundred songs. Heavily influenced by Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, John Prine, and Townes Van Zandt. He has released 6 albums, "Strange Bedfellows" 2007, "Replevin" in 2009, "The Night The Date Was Tied" in 2010, "Kapow" 2011, "Tied To The Rail" 2014, "Classic Universe" 2018. The single "Twenty One Rounds" was released on Memorial Day 2018.

Statistics

Syracuse

: ^''(a)'' 13th in NCAA Division I career assists : ^''(b)'' 6th in NCAA Division I career points

Awards

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Michael 1982 births Living people Lacrosse players from New York (state) Major League Lacrosse players People from Jefferson County, New York Syracuse Orange men's lacrosse players