Monday, July 22, 2024

Air Currier

The Olympic Games begin this week in Paris, with some preliminary events (mostly in soccer and rugby) and then the Opening Ceremonies Friday.

The next Summer Games will be in 2028 in Los Angeles. What will be different about those games? For one thing, they'll include the sport of lacrosse.

Will Princeton be represented on the men's side?

Maybe some of the younger alums, or even current players, make the jump to the national team level? There are three players who make the most sense at this point, though they'll all be in their 30s when the 2028 Olympics begin.

As impossible as it is to believe, Tom Schreiber is already 32 years old, which means he'll be 36 when Los Angeles rolls around. Will he still be on top of his game? Michael Sowers is 26 years old, so he'll be 30 four years from now. 

Those two are Americans. On the Canadian side, there is Zach Currier, who will be 34 in 2028.

Currier may or may not be an Olympian in four years, though it's hard to imagine that he'll be slowing down any time soon. He certainly was going full-speed this past weekend, when the Premier Lacrosse League made its stop in Connecticut.

If you follow lacrosse history, you're familiar with the "Air Gait," made famous by Syracuse's Gary Gait. This past Friday night, Currier did his own version:

Uh, yeah. That's quite a move.

Do you comprehend how athletic you have to be to do what he did? Forget getting the ball to go in the goal past the goalie. How about trying that without any defense on the field? 

To scoop the ball the way he did and then time it perfectly to release the shot in midair and not land in the crease until the ball was in the goal? That's ridiculous. 

Also, Currier is lefthanded, very lefthanded at that, and he did that with his right hand.

Currier's play was the No. 2 Play of the Day on SportsCenter and the highlight of the weekend in Connecticut for Princeton alums. It was far from the only impessive performance.

The Tigers are well-represented in the professional outdoor league, and pretty much all of them showed up in Connecticut. In fact, there are six Princeton alums who play offense who are in the league, and all of them had at least two goals.

That's six players. And that's six players with at least two goals this weekend.

For the record, those six are Schreiber, Currier, Sowers, Ryan Ambler, Jake Stevens and Alexander Vardaro. Throw in three assists from both Schreiber and Sowers and a two-point goal from Currier, as well as an assist from shortstick defensive midfielder Beau Pederson, and here were the numbers for the weekend: 

* 11 one-point goals, one two-point goal, seven assists, 20 points.

Schreiber, Currier and Sowers get a ton of attention. 

Ambler does not, but he has quietly put together a great professional career. In fact, between the PLL and now-defunct Major League Lacrosse, Ambler has averaged better than a goal per game, with 77 goals in 74 games (and 38 assists, for 115 points).

In his game this weekend, Ambler's first goal came when he took a feed in the middle with his momentum towards the cage. It was obvious he was going to score even before he ever shot it. That's the mark of a great veteran scorer.

As for the newbies, Pederson has already established himself as one of the best SSDMs in the league. And Stevens and Vardaro? They both have six goals, a very solid total for a rookie. Stevens has gotten his six goals on just 12 shots, making him one of only 15 players in the league to have at least a 50 percent shooting percentage.

Stevens is Canadian. He's also young. Maybe he'll be an Olympian in four years. The Olympic style of lacrosse — the sixes — seems perfect for the way he (and Currier) play. 

Will there be Princetonians in the Olympic lacrosse in Los Angeles. For that, you have to wait four years. 

First there will be the Paris Games, with the 26 Princetonians who will be there.

And if you need lacrosse this weekend, the PLL will be in San Diego.

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