Bowen sticks to his first love
Will Bowen didn’t need to go through a long, drawnout recruiting process. He knew early on where he wanted to go to college.
The Boston College High junior lacrosse standout gave his verbal commitment to North Carolina three years ago before he played his first varsity game as a freshman. It’s a decision Bowen never has regretted.
“At the time, when I was back in the eighth grade, the recruiting atmosphere was pretty hectic,” he said. “There is certainly a lot of pressure as schools began to approach younger kids. The (recruiting) classes start to fill up, and once you get into the later part of your sophomore year (without committing), opportunities to play at a high Division 1 school are tougher.
“For me, it came down to Harvard, Michigan and North Carolina. The coaching staff at North Carolina, coach (Joe) Brescia, coach (David) Metzbower and coach (Chris) Feifs, provided a great recruiting experience for me. The university also provided me with a great academic opportunity which made it very appealing.”
Bowen grew up in the lacrosse hotbed of Cohasset and picked up the sport as a third grader. While Bowen originally enjoyed the sport, there were some issues. He wasn’t crazy about playing midfield, and a knee injury made him question whether lacrosse was the sport for him.
A switch to defense and a return to good health restored Bowen’s love for the game. His knowledge of lacrosse, coupled with his 6-foot-3, 220-pound frame, made him a rarity — a freshman who could step up against the best competition and not be a fish out of water.
“Guys come in as freshmen and will impress during practice and tryouts,” BC High coach Steve Lydon said. “But when you start to ask them to do more than they are comfortable with, that’s what separated Will. He showed that he had other tools. He was able to step right into the Catholic Conference and against a tough nonleague schedule and hang with them from Day 1. I feel pretty fortunate to have the opportunity to get to coach him for four years.”
With Bowen in the lineup, the Eagles have been one of the elite programs in the state. They’ve gone 5410 and competed in the past two Division 1 state finals, losing an 8-7 contest to Lincoln-Sudbury last season.
“We had a tough playoff run last year. We ran into a great Duxbury team at Harvard in the South final,” Bowen said of the Eagles’ 11-9 win. “We were built for those games. We worked a lot down the stretch to put ourselves in the position to be the team that people want to beat. Unfortunately we did come up short against a great L-S team in the state final. That’s definitely been used for motivation in the offseason. It’s something that should propel us to a good season.”
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