Alex Slusher Focuses On Lacrosse and More

"It was crazy. I missed six of the first eight Fridays. Playing in Oregon you have to fly back east for all the tournaments," Slusher said. "That freshman fall was probably the most hectic I've ever had."

Even though he was working to gain the attention of college coaches, Slusher knew the odds.

"Being from Oregon, I was always told that it was going to be a disadvantage coming from a state where people don’t really play or it’s not traditionally known," Slusher said. "It gave me a chip on my shoulder at some of those recruiting events because I was that kid from Oregon. People here on the East Coast would be like, “Oh, you’re from Oregon?” I think in some ways, it helped me because when people are looking at their sheet and it got four kids from Baltimore, and then they say like, 'Oh, these kids are from Portland, Oregon. Let me check them out.'"

There was also pressure on Slusher to play well. Not only to ensure college coaches noticed but to represent his state.

"I always feel I have to represent the state when I’m back East. If I don’t play well, then what are people going to think about Oregon lacrosse."

During the time, Oregon Episcopal Head Coach Dennis Sullivan learned what kind of player he had. Sullivan told Slusher that he was required to complete all his schoolwork and inform his teachers what he was doing. Sullivan checked on his progress by meeting with the teachers.

"I met with his history teacher because then I didn't know the type of person Alex was and wanted to follow up and make sure he was doing all his work," Sullivan said. "His teacher told me what a model student he was and that he went out of his way to help some of the students in the class that were struggling a bit. He is just a good kid."

"He used to text me photos of him in the airport with ice on his knees to show me he was doing his homework," Sullivan added.

In addition to his freshman exploits of helping out classmates in history class, Slusher has been an advocate for helping grow lacrosse at Oregon Episcopal.

"He talked some freshman who'd never played lacrosse before into trying out for the team," Sullivan said. "During the first practice, before anyone else was out on the field, Alex was out there helping them."

Sacrifice

Alex Slusher from Oregon Episcopal (Ore.). Photo by Mike Loveday

Slusher initially thought he was making a sacrifice when he chose to attend Oregon Episcopal. While the school has always been among the state's best, they had not won a state championship since 2009.

"When Alex got here I recognized how talented he was. I told him that we were going to need him to be a leader or that he could have a miserable four years," Sullivan said. "He's the kind of player that can make everyone around him better and he took on that role. We've never had a sophomore captain, and he's been a three-year captain."

"I actually chose to go to OES, which is 300-person school and they hadn't won in something like 10 years," Slusher said. "I thought I was choosing to go to the better academic school and sacrificing some lacrosse."

The Aardvarks were coming off a 2015 season in which they reached the Elite 8 and finished 13-6. The team had only made one Final Four from 2014 to 2016.

With Slusher added to the lineup, OES was an Elite 8 team once again in 2016 after finishing 14-4. The freshman put 48 goals and 18 assists en route to earning All-State Honorable Mention honors.

The Aardvarks and Slusher made the leap in 2017.

Slusher scored 89 points on 67 goals and 22 assists, helping OES to the state championship. He earned US Lacrosse All-American and First Team All-State honors. Oregon Episcopal finished 17-1 to win its first title since 2009.

Both OES and Slusher repeated the feats in 2018. Slusher scored 90 points on 58 goals and 32 assists as the Aardvarks finished 17-2.

"People thought we were done being good at lacrosse because they were really good when it first started and then as they got bigger, we've gotten worse," Slusher said. "Winning that first one was so sweet. There's nothing better than winning."

Final Games

Oregon Episcopal is 12-4 this season and earned the No. 7 seed in the state playoffs. The team finished 6-0 in the Columbia Conference and earned a first-round playoff bye. They face the winner of West Salem/Canby on May 21.

Slusher and OES have four possible games left and look to become the first team since Lincoln (Ore.) to win three-straight titles. Lincoln won three from 2010 to 2012.

Slusher has 78 points heading into the playoffs with a career total of 323. The senior has 209 goals, becoming the third player that's been reported to LaxRecords to score at least 200 in Oregon history. John Duffy and Sam Handley from Jesuit (Ore.) are the others.