Versatile Cowan ready for next challenge

Andrew Cowan is ready for whatever is asked of him once he joins the Langley Junior Thunder. Photo courtesy of Freeze Frame Photography 

Size, scoring and versatility.

Those are some of the words describing Andrew Cowan.

The six-foot-one, 175-pound left-handed forward was a third-round pick of the Langley Thunder in last month’s BC Junior A Lacrosse League Draft.

“Andrew is a big lefty who can play on both sides of the floor,” described Ryan Williams, the Thunder’s Assistant General Manager and Director of Scouting. “He has a good shot and uses his big frame to make space for his teammates and can score himself from the inside.”

That assessment was echoed by Curt Malawsky, who coached Cowan in 2018 as part of the Team BC box lacrosse program and was coaching him with the Ridge Meadows Minor Lacrosse Association last year before the sport was shut down.

“They are getting a guy who plays well in the two-man game,” Malawsky said. “And with his big body, he creates space for other guys and when he gets inside, he can finish.”

Cowan has played the sport for the past eight years, falling for the game so much that he quit soccer to focus on lacrosse.

“It was a pretty easy decision,” Cowan said, explaining that having success in the sport (he has played on Team BC at multiple age groups and medaled nationally) helped point him in lacrosse’s direction. “I loved the fast-paced play and had a great time and just fell in love with the sport.”

As he transitions to the junior game, the question remains where his skill set is better suited: defence/transition or offence.

“I think when all is said and done, he’ll be a pure ‘O’ guy, but maybe he has to start out in the back end and push the ball in transition,” Malawsky predicted. “(But) I think if you fast forward five years to when he is 21, I think he is going out the front door.”

Starting out going out the back door is both an opportunity to transition from minor to junior lacrosse and is also a chance to hone those skills and make him a better all-around player.

“A lot of the good offensive players … start out in the back end and work their way to the front because there are only so many jobs (up front),” Malawsky said. “I think some of the draft pics will have to start out in the back end, not just pure D, but transition-type players, go out and play D and push the ball up the floor and play some offence. And as they move along and they got more mature and older, I imagine some spots (on offence) open up.”

For his part, Cowan is not concerned where on the floor he begins his junior career.

“There is no difference to me. Just have to have an open mind,” he said. “I just want to go to camp and be ready for whatever they ask of me. I’m just willing to do whatever the coaches ask of me.”