PIAA boys lacrosse: Mars captain Ben Bowser no stranger to success after leading Planets hockey team
Ben Bowser could probably play in another era.
Mars boys lacrosse coach Bob Marcoux described the senior, a captain two-way midfielder, as the Planets’ most valuable player in both facets of the game. Marcoux also labeled him a throwback, which might be an even more honorary tag.
“He never leaves the field,” Marcoux said. “Ben is one of those guys who does all the little things that help you win. He plays on the wing on our face-offs, where he scoops a ton of ground balls. He’s one of our better short-stick defensive middies.
“He’s super unselfish. He leads the team in assists. … He probably, even more so, leads the team in hockey assists where he makes the pass before the pass that leads to the goal.”
What a coincidence, huh? Not quite.
Bowser, a Maryville commit whose Mars team is two wins away from a fifth consecutive PIAA Class 2A title game berth, averaged a team-high 1.9 points per game while captaining the school’s hockey team this past season. A center, he totaled 11 goals and 27 assists in 20 hockey games as the Planets finished their season as the Penguins Cup runner-up.
Junior lacrosse standouts Grant Weaver and Jack Tirch also played on that squad. The trio will aim to down Allentown Central Catholic in a state quarterfinal matchup in Mechanicsburg on Saturday.
“Hockey players are typically pretty gritty, and there’s nobody grittier than Ben,” Marcoux said. “Ben is an absolute dog. He’s super tough on ground balls. He’s not the biggest guy on the field, but he certainly plays like it sometimes.”
The competitiveness and toughness, Marcoux said, has seeped into the rest of his lacrosse team, which downed Lower Dauphin 12-2 in the first round of the state tournament on Tuesday.
“Really, just knowing that my parents have given up so much for me to play these types of sports,” Bowser said when asked where his rough-and-tumble style originates. “I’m really just going to the field and working as hard as I can, knowing that I’m giving it my all and they’re not wasting their money or their time watching me.”
Bowser made it a point to be at lacrosse practices after fulfilling his hockey obligations.
“I think that’s where he developed his leadership, too,” Marcoux said. “Even though it probably didn’t make sense for him to jump into practices full because he had just practiced for two hours in hockey, he came to all the offseason workouts, he cheered his guys on and he participated when it made sense.”
Marcoux added that there were cases in which he had to tell Bowser to drop his helmet on the sideline and take it easy.
Before Tuesday’s dominating win, Bowser had registered 30 goals and 36 assists on the season, marking a seamless transition from the ice.
“On a lacrosse field, honestly, the vision, it opens up. It feels the same,” Bowser said. “I really just trust my teammates.”
A win over Allentown Central Catholic would send Mars to the semifinals, where they would play either Trinity or South Fayette.
“Everyone is just motivated and trying to prove that we’re not just a fallen-off Mars team,” Bowser said, adding that he wants to help the rich tradition continue.
