Two Syracuse Legends to be Inducted into National Lacrosse Hall of Fame
The National Lacrosse League (NLL) released its Hall of Fame class of 2021, and it features a healthy dose of Vitamin C as two Orange alumni were elected. Casey Powell ('95-'98) and Regy Thorpe ('92-'93) started their illustrious careers at Syracuse University, and are now being recognized for their achievements in the NLL Hall of Fame.
Powell, who at the time was the all time leading scorer in high school lacrosse history (553 points), came to Syracuse as a highly touted attacker and experienced enormous success right off the bat. Bestowed the honorary #22 his freshman year, Powell helped lead Syracuse to a 1995 National Championship, earning what would be his first of four All NCAA Tournament Team honors in the process.
Showing off his versatility, Powell switched to midfield his sophomore season and hit the ground running. Powell blossomed in his new role on the team, earning the McLaughlin Award for Division I Midfielder of the Year. He also made First Team All American as a midfielder after making Second Team All American as an attacker the year prior.
Powell became a campus legend after only two exceptional years at Syracuse, and the Powell name grew even bigger once Casey's younger brother Ryan joined the team in 1997. This allowed Casey to move back to attacker where he was named a First Team All American, the first player to ever earn the honor in multiple positions. The awards did not stop there for Casey, who earned the Lt. Raymond Enners Award for Most Outstanding Player in Division I. He followed this up his senior year by winning the award back-to-back while also taking home the Jack Turnbull Award for Attackman of the Year.
Powell finished his Orange career as the all-time points leader in school history (287), to go along with a laundry list of other accolades that made him the #1 overall pick in the 1998 Entry Draft. Drafted to the Rochester Nighthawks, Powell continued his success on the pro level, where he played 11 seasons for six different teams.
He served as a trailblazer for Americans playing in the NLL. During his playing career, Powell became the first American to win NLL Most Valuable Player (2010) and retired from the sport with the most points ever by an American player.
SU's other hall of fame nominee Regy Thorpe played only two years at Syracuse, but accomplished just as much in only half the time. Thorpe started off playing two years at Herkimer County Community College where he won the NJCAA Defenseman of the Year in 1991.
There he transferred to SU where he had an immediate impact on the defensive side of the ball, helping bring the Orange to a National title game appearance in 1992. Despite the loss, Thorpe and the Orange came back even stronger in 1993, where they won the 5th title in school history. Thorpe was team captain of that championship team and was named an All-American for his efforts.
Thorpe started his pro career for the same team as Powell, the Rochester Knighthawks, but unlike Powell, Thorpe spent his entire 15 year playing career in Rochester. Joining the team in their inaugural 1995 season, it wasn't long before Thorpe was holding up the NLL Cup trophy with his teammates during their 1997 championship victory over the Buffalo Bandits. Fast forward to 2007 and Thorpe would win his second championship, this time as team captain, just like his days at the Carrier Dome.
Thorpe would go on to retire as the franchise leader in games played, loose balls recovered and penalty minutes for both the regular and post-season. After his playing career, Thorpe returned to SU and served ten years as Associate Head Coach for SU Women's lacrosse. Thorpe is now the assistant head coach for Pitt's Women's Lacrosse team.
Powell and Thorpe will become the fourth and fifth former Syracuse Lacrosse players to be inducted into the NLL Hall of Fame. The 2021 class also represents the first additions to the Hall since 2016.