Perkins stands tall decades after feat

Even after what has transpired in area lacrosse over the last 25 years, Mike Perkins remains on top.

After the Powells, Coffmans and Dingmans, the Loftus brothers, Nims and Niewieroski, and many others, the former Immaculate Heart Central standout remains an all-time leading scorer.

Perkins totaled 271 points during his four-year collegiate career for SUNY Cortland. The record has stood since the day he set it during a 20-10 loss to Hobart in April 1985. Meanwhile, he is second all-time in career goals scored (154) and third in career assists (117).

Perkins is the first and last Cortland player to have scored at least 50 points in each of four seasons. He won the team MVP award as a freshman after supplying 58 points (28-30) in 1982. From there, he finished with 63 points in both his sophomore and junior seasons.

Perkins was named to the All-America third team as a sophomore and won first-team honors in both his junior and senior seasons. During his final three years at Cortland, the Red Dragons won the SUNYAC title with an unbeaten 6-0 mark each time. Perkins reached the NCAA Division III tournament twice, helping Cortland to advance to the national semifinals during his senior year.

He also was named to the prestigious North-South game as a senior.

Perkins also won honors during his high school career, becoming the first IHC lacrosse player to be named an All-American. He led IHC with 72 points (39-32) his senior year and was named to the first-team All-Central New York team that season.

Perkins also helped IHC to the state basketball semifinals, averaging 16.5 points per game his senior year. And he was an all-star at quarterback. He won the Clarence "Boots" Gaffney Award as the top male athlete at IHC in 1981.

After college, Perkins continued to play lacrosse, competing for the short-lived Syracuse Spirit of the American Lacrosse League. Syracuse was 4-1 when the league folded, and Perkins had compiled nine goals and four assists. Perkins also competed for the Iroquois Nationals at the Lacrosse USA Invitational in 1990.

Perkins was part of the IHC Hall of Fame's second class, being inducted in 2002. His nephew, David Puccia, also was a standout lacrosse player for the Cavaliers, winning Times All-North first-team mention in 1998.

Perkins lives in DeWitt and works for Worlco Management Services, selling health insurance. He has two sons, Michael, 13, and Dylan, 6. Perkins remains active in lacrosse, playing mostly box lacrosse and some outdoor, and expects to compete in a 40-and-over tournament in Vail, Colo. this season.

Perkins was in attendance Sunday when Cortland defeated Middlebury, 16-8, in the NCAA Division III semifinals in Cortland and plans to bring the family to the NCAA championships next weekend.

To read about previous selections to the Times' list of The North Country's Greatest Athletes of All Time, log on to www.watertowndailytimes.com