ST. LEO, Fla. – For lacrosse sophmore Greg Palmer, awards come second behind strong team play and victory on the field.
After a strong first season for the Saint Leo Lions which saw him win the program’s first ever Freshman of the Year Award, the Canadian wants to remain at his best and help his team win every game.
Despite the personal glory, the goal is unchanged.
“Obviously there’s not an expectation to win an award, that just comes as you play and the team does well,” said the attacker, last Friday in an interview on the field. “For the team the expectations are the same we want to make the tournament and win our conference.”
Growing up in Holland Landing, which is a short drive north of Newmarket, Ontario (itself north of Toronto). Palmer has seemingly always been destined to play lacrosse since he was a child.
“I knew lacrosse was for me as soon as I picked up a stick when I was three and never got rid of it,” he said.
A graduate of Vaughan’s Everest Academy in 2022, along with teammate Ben Baker, Palmer found it easy to transition to the college lifestyle through his experiences in high school.
“Everest was great, they’ve done a lot of things for me,” he said.
“The main thing was just preparing myself for the next level and how it’s gonna be with 7 a.m. lifts, practice right after, and then still trying to fit in your classes while balancing my free time.”
Along with Palmer and Baker the 2024 Lions team features five players from the GTA and its surrounding area, including twins Owen and Issac Wills.
“Ben and I have been roommates for the last two years and we went to high school together,” Palmer said. “Now we have the two twins Issac and Owen and I’ve known them since I was eight, just playing against them and playing with them.
“And it’s been great they’ve been able to be my best friends here.”
He considers his fellow locals to be a close-knit group.
“We all can relate to certain things, especially when it gets a little too hot outside,” he said, chuckling at the inside-Canadian joke.
In 2023, Palmer scored 38 goals and had 58 points in 13 games. But this season Palmer is playing at a different level having already scored 22 goals in just six games so far this season.
Eight of those goals came in a game against Montevallo on March 2 which also saw him set a new program record for points in a game at 12.
“The balls were just falling on my stick,” Palmer said. “The first goal was a garbage goal that just went off the goalie and onto my stick, the next goal the defender lost the ball and it went right on my stick and I buried it.”
Palmer didn’t do any extra preparation ahead of the record-setting game.
“When you feel good, good things are gonna happen.”
With this being his last season of junior-aged eligibility, Palmer is eligible to be taken in the upcoming National Lacrosse League draft (box lacrosse) but he still isn’t sure what path he is looking to take for the future.
“We’re just going to see where things go and just roll with it.”