Manchester Central duo at heart of Plymouth State’s NCAA lacrosse tourney berth

Growing up just down the street from each other in Manchester, Alex Hawkom and Owen McNichols have been playing sports together since they can remember.

The duo, who took the field together in Police Athletic League lacrosse and eventually as high schoolers at Manchester Central, are now starring as teammates for the NCAA Division III tournament qualifying Plymouth State University men’s lacrosse team.

McNichols, the Little East Conference Goalie of the Year and All-LEC First Teamer, and Hawkom, the Panthers’ third-leading scorer and All-LEC Second Teamer, have come a long way since playing pickup ball in their Governor’s Hill neighborhood.

“Owen and I grew up in the same neighborhood,” Hawkom said. “Our families are really close. We used to get off the bus from elementary school and play touch football or basketball. To go from that, to then playing high school together we grew a strong bond on and off the field.”

Hawkom left the Granite State for a scholarship offer to play Division I football at Central Connecticut State University. When he graduated with a bachelor’s in finance, he felt it was time to come closer to home for graduate school.

Knowing his friend was going over grad school options, McNichols threw out Plymouth State as a potential landing spot – including the chance to play lacrosse with him for an up-and-coming program – during one of their frequent conversations.

Hawkom is happy with his decision for sure.

“After four years apart in college this is something special,” said Hawkom, who will be graduating with his MBA in August. “To take the field together again, back home in New Hampshire – in both of our last seasons as college athletes – we got to strap it up one more time together and win a conference championship and qualify for the NCAA Tournament. To do that with one of your childhood best friends is an unbelievable feeling. I think we’re both very grateful we got this opportunity no matter what.”

Saturday afternoon, the Little East Conference champion Panthers squared off against No. 3 St. Lawrence University in a second-round game hosted by Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. The season came to end there for PSU in a 14-6 loss.

Riding a nine-game winning streak, PSU secured its spot in the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time in program history, by winning that LEC title and earning an automatic spot in the bracket. The Panthers only other NCAA berth came back in 1976, which was a combined Division II and III National Tournament. Washington College beat PSU in the first round that year. In 1980, the NCAA split the divisions.

“It’s such an unreal feeling,” McNichols said. “Ever since I was a kid I’ve been thinking about winning championships. Like every kid I think. Winning a championship in college lacrosse is such a big accomplishment, and doing it here at Plymouth is even greater – especially with Alex, one of my best friends.”

McNichols heaps praise on Hawkom for what his addition has meant to this Panthers squad. Rightfully so.

Hawkom, who hadn’t played lacrosse since high school, finished conference play with 39 points (31 goals, 8 assists) as a midfielder – second in goals for the Panthers to fellow Granite Stater Crosby Fay (51 goals, 3 assists, 54 points), a senior from Waterville Valley. Hawkom was named the LEC Tournament’s Most Valuable Player, finishing the three-game tournament with eight goals and two assists, four of those goals in their 16-10 conference final win over Western Connecticut State University.

However, McNichols’ own accomplishments cannot be overlooked. He keeps rewriting the goalie record book at PSU.

The senior netminder finished conference play with a league-best 8.1 goals against average and .566 save percentage. His 15-4 record going into the tournament in the cage this spring is a program record for goalie wins in a season, while he also holds the record for career wins with 32.

McNichols finished with double-digit saves in 12 games, including a season-best 17 in PSU’s 16-11 LEC Tournament semifinal win over UMass Boston. He followed that up with 12 more saves in the finals win over WCSU.

Fifth-year head coach Mike Wilus, who earned LEC Coach of the Year honors, is thrilled he’s had the chance to work with this Manchester Central duo during this historic run for the program.

“They have both brought so much to the table for us this season,” Wilus said. “Their leadership, their skill sets, and their commitment and dedication to the team and our goals has been a big part of what we’ve accomplished as a program this year.”

Unlike this one-year with Hawkom, Wilus had the chance to watch McNichols progress from Day 1 in college.

“Owen, his growth has been remarkable,” Wilus said. “Obviously from a stopping standpoint, but also just growth as a person, maturity wise. He didn’t play his freshman year. Sophomore year, he struggled a lot that year. It was his first year as a starter that year, but he didn’t really make it a full game a lot of games. Had a tough season.

“Last year, he really turned the corner. If you look at his stats from last season, I think they’re pretty on par with this year. And this year he had that determination – that look in his eye – and a goalie is such a huge part of it. It’s the backstop of your team, of your defense. There wasn’t a single game this year where Owen had a lapse. He was spot on in every game we played, especially down the stretch in the playoffs he made some big saves.”

Another big save credited to McNichols is getting Hawkom to stop looking elsewhere in his grad school search.

“We’ve stayed in contact all along,” McNichols said. “It wasn’t just out of the blue. It wasn’t just a random text. We’ve always been in contact. We live like two seconds away from each other. We live in the same neighborhood, so our families are really good friends.

“When I knew he was looking at a different school for grad school, I told him he should be looking at Plymouth and he could play lacrosse again. We could play together again and have a great chance at winning a title this year.”

Wilus certainly appreciated the joint recruiting efforts of his goalie. That along with a big win over Keene State last spring was enough to seal the deal.

“Yeah totally, totally,” Wilus said. “I think Owen played a big part in Alex deciding to come here.

“Our last game of the regular season last year, Alex was here and we beat Keene State in overtime. It was a win against Keene for the first time in like 20 years. It was an awesome environment – under the lights, huge crowd, big student section cheering – and I think when he saw that, he was like this is pretty cool. That was the first time I had met him, and we stayed in touch throughout the summer. Everything fell into place perfectly.”

Well, almost perfectly.

Hawkom made the decision to return to lacrosse and go for his MBA at PSU, but he certainly had some rust to shake off. Once again, the 6-foot-3, 215-pounder turned to his childhood friend for an assist.

“I hadn’t touched a stick really for like four years,” Hawkom said. “I was just talking to Owen about this this other day. Looking back to the summer when I had decided I’d be going to Plymouth, and I told him let’s go to the field I need to get some shots off and start practicing again. I remember that day. I don’t think I scored a single goal on him all day. I was not shooting very well. It was a tough transition.

“I felt good athletically. I was in shape because I had already been playing sports, but my stick skills were definitely lagging behind. So early fall was a little frustrating, but being able to shoot on Owen all the time was super helpful. And then I had obviously great coaches and teammates that were able to point me in the right direction.”

That direction has led Hawkom and McNichols to team up once more to win a conference title and play in the NCAA Tournament. Not bad for a couple of PAL lacrosse kids from Governor’s Hill.