Casey Powell

American lacrosse player

Casey Powell (born February 18, 1976) is an American retired professional lacrosse player from West Carthage, New York. In 1998, he graduated from Syracuse University, where he was a four time USILA All American. Powell was the NCAA Division I Most Outstanding Player in 1997 and 1998. Powell was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2017, and the Professional Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2022. Powell played in Major League Lacrosse, the semi professional field lacrosse league, from its first year in 2001 through 2016, although he played in only 8 games between 2009 and 2013. Yet Powell ranks sixth in goals (243), second in assists (237), and third in points (484) on the MLL career totals list as of 2017. Powell also tops the all time MLL playoff point chart with 40. In 2005 and 2014, he won the MLL Offensive Player of the Year award. Powell earned the MVP award in 2014 at age 38. After retiring from professional lacrosse, Powell shifted focus to other business and philanthropic endeavors. Powell started the World Lacrosse Foundation, a non profit organization for the advancement of lacrosse in 2015.

Powell was a three time first team All American attackman and midfielder, and helped Syracuse win the 1995 NCAA National Championship. Powell followed Gary Gait in wearing the revered number 22 jersey at Syracuse University. His two younger brothers, Ryan and Mikey, carried on the tradition as well.

In 2001, Powell was signed by the Long Island Lizards of Major League Lacrosse (MLL), and led the Lizards to the first ever MLL Championship. In 2003, the Lizards won the Championship again, and after the season, Powell was traded to the Rochester Rattlers in a five player deal. During the 2004 season, Powell finished second on the Rattlers with 57 points (32 goals, 24 assists, 1 two point goal). 2005 was a career year for Powell. He led the Rattlers in scoring and ranked second in the league with 57 points (27 goals, 30 assists). His 30 assists were second in the league behind Conor Gill's 34, and was named Offensive Player of the Week three times in the final four weeks of the season. Casey and his brothers sat out the 2009 MLL season, as they did not report to their teams as of April 1 contract deadline. Powell returned in 2011, and played for the Hamilton Nationals. During the 2011 season MLL Championship game, Powell injured his knee and needed to be helped off the field, he had 4 goals in a 10 9 Nationals loss to the Boston Cannons in the MLL championship game, his lacrosse future in doubt. But just days later he announced that an MRI revealed no tear in his ACL, so the injury was not as serious as first thought. After playing only three games in the 2012 season, Powell retired from the MLL, but was drafted by Chesapeake Bayhawks in the supplemental draft that year. He returned in 2013 and played with the Bayhawks.

Powell was the first overall draft choice of the Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League (NLL) in the 1998 entry draft and played two seasons for the Knighthawks. He was traded to the Buffalo Bandits in 2001 and signed a contract, but never reported. In 2003, the Bandits traded him to the Anaheim Storm. and was named to the All Star team in 2007, 2008, and 2009. In the 2010 season, he was named the first American born MVP in NLL history. Following the contraction of the Titans in 2010, the Boston Blazers acquired Powell in a dispersal draft. After one year in Boston, the Blazers also went dark, and Powell was chosen by the Rochester Knighthawks in the resulting dispersal draft. Powell has also hosted a weekly one hour show on Sirius Satellite Radio called "Inside the NLL with Casey Powell" since 2007. Powell was named to the 2021 NLL Hall of Fame class.

Powell captained the U. S. Men's National Team in the 2006 World Lacrosse Championship, winning the silver medal. He was also the captain of the U. S. Men's Indoor National Team in 2011, where he was named the tournament MVP. Powell was an assistant captain at the 2015 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship. The U. S. won bronze medals in both indoor championships.

On June 18, 2022, Powell was inducted into the Professional Lacrosse Hall of Fame as one of the eleven members of the inaugural class of inductees.

Regular Season   Playoffs Season Team GP G 2ptG A Pts GB PIM GP G 2ptG A Pts GB PIM 2001 Long Island 14 30 1 22 53 28 5 2 4 0 4 8 0 0 2002 Long Island 14 37 1 30 68 51 1 2 2 0 5 7 0 0 2003 Rochester 7 17 1 15 33 31 5 2004 Rochester 11 30 1 22 53 37 5.5 1 2 0 1 3 0 0 2005 Rochester 10 26 0 30 56 22 2 1 2 0 1 3 0 0 2007 Rochester 8 19 0 22 41 14 2 1 0 0 1 1 0 0.5 2008 Rochester 12 15 1 26 42 19 1.5 2 2 0 3 5 1 0 2011 Hamilton 2 2 0 3 5 0 1 2 5 0 3 8 6 0 2012 Hamilton 3 4 0 2 6 4 9.5 2013 Chesapeake 3 4 0 2 6 0 0 2 2 0 3 5 1 0 2014 Florida 14 30 0 33 63 18 7 2015 Florida 10 18 0 16 34 9 0 2016 Florida 9 11 0 12 23 15 1.5 MLL Totals 117 243 5 237 484 248 41 13 19 0 21 40 9 0.5Sources:

Regular Season   Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1994 Toronto Beaches OLA Jr. A 8 14 15 29 0 5 11 5 16 7 2008 Six Nations Chiefs MSL 5 5 8 13 0 0 0 0 0 0Junior A Totals814152905115167Senior A Totals55813000000