Lehigh men’s lacrosse welcomes new FOGO

From 2020 to 2023, Lehigh men’s lacrosse enjoyed a luxury at the forefront of their faceoff unit. 

Faceoff specialist Mike Sisselberger, who had a record-breaking tenure at Lehigh, set the NCAA record for faceoff percentage in a season in 2021 at .795 and was a multiple-time United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association All-American. 

When Sisselberger was drafted fifth overall in the 2023 Premier Lacrosse League draft, the Mountain Hawks faced an opening at a position that had been effectively secured for four seasons.

A year later, junior faceoff specialist Sean Dow received the starting job, an outcome that seemed unlikely since the moment he picked up a lacrosse stick. 

Dow grew up in Simpsonville, South Carolina. Since lacrosse is not nearly as popular there as it is in the Northeast, Dow initially took to baseball. After watching his cousin play lacrosse, a curious Dow took up the unfamiliar sport and eventually fell in love with the game. He started as a midfielder before making the transition to faceoff specialist at a summer scrimmage.

“When I was trying out for my summer ball team, we were doing a full-field scrimmage, and [the team]needed someone to go against the starting faceoff guy,” Dow remembers. “I ended up doing well, and then [the coaches]were like, ‘Now you’re not a middie anymore — you’re gonna be the faceoff guy.'”

Even though Dow’s transition to specializing in faceoffs happened much later than most who play the position, the switch was an immediate success.

Dow became the starting faceoff specialist in his sophomore year and held the position for the remainder of his high school career. As a senior, he entered the lacrosse record books at Christ School for the highest faceoff percentage in a single season, with a .900 win rate in 2021 and a selection to the All-State team. 

InsideLacrosse, an ESPN affiliate and lacrosse recruiting website, had Dow listed as a four-star recruit coming out of high school.

Despite his production, Dow said he felt overlooked during the recruiting process because he is from an area that lacked a dominant lacrosse presence.

“The whole recruiting period of my life was definitely a challenge,” Dow said. “Coming from South Carolina, I felt like people weren’t really taking me seriously.”

But three schools did. 

Dow looked intensively at Ohio State, Lehigh and Army, but he ended up committing to Lehigh because of the strong academics and competitive lacrosse program.

His commitment to Lehigh marked the beginning of his apprenticeship under the incumbent starter Sisselberger. 

“(Sisselberger is) so good and has so much knowledge about the game,” Dow said. “Taking things (from him), watching how he acts and seeing him in games is definitely beneficial.”

Learning through watching has been one of the most effective ways Dow has improved his game, especially with some of the fundamentals like faceoff positioning.

“You have to be very low to the ground, and coming in (to Lehigh), that wasn’t me,” Dow said. “Seeing how well it worked for (Sisselberger), I took that from him, and now we all implement that.”

The improvements and wisdom that Sisselberger passed throughout the unit have not gone unnoticed.

Senior captain and attacking midfielder Scott Cole explained how Sisselberger’s knowledge and presence helped the faceoff unit transcend to higher levels of toughness, determination and skill. 

“The faceoff group, in particular, is extremely talented and battle-tested,” Cole said. “Those guys are motivated and feel like they have something to prove, considering that they sat for so long and now have the opportunity to make a difference for the team.”

Besides Dow’s commitment to his craft, he has also emerged as a leader for the team and a player who sets the tone for practices and games, one faceoff at a time.

“He’s definitely been a leader on and off the field,” sophomore goaltender Bryce Pang said. “He’s always giving it his all in the weight room during lifts and during practice — he’s always giving the best effort.”

The extra work has paid off for Dow, who has gotten off to a solid start in his first two games. Against Rutgers and Fairfield, he won over half of his faceoffs and looks to continue that trend throughout the season.

With his new role, Dow still keeps a humble outlook on the season. He maintains a team-first mindset and solely focuses on making a positive impact in each game rather than individual achievements.

“I’m just trying to take everything one game at a time and one faceoff at a time,” Dow said. “I don’t really care about percentage, as long as I’m helping out my team, I think that’s what’s most important to me.”