'Effortless' Andrew Cook Putting National Title Ahead of Pro Aspirations

Andrew Cook was one of the most unstoppable forces in all of college lacrosse in 2023. If the ball ended up in his stick, a goal, or at least a shot, was the inevitable outcome of the possession.

No play exemplified this more than Christopher Newport’s NCAA quarterfinal against Dickinson in which Cook briefly lost the ball but regained possession and stuck what appeared to be the game-winning goal — only for that shot to be disallowed due to head coach Mikey Thompson calling a timeout in the melee.

Cook went on to score the actual winning goal in overtime, and the Captains advanced to the semifinals, where they fell to eventual champion Salisbury, 12-8.

There is no other player in Division III that can match Cook’s raw power. Powerful righties are a staple of all levels of lacrosse, but Cook really is a high-level Division I player being deployed by a top Division III team because he has an effortless playstyle as well. He’s a guy that blurs that line between Division I prospect and Division III superstar — because he was both.

“Andrew was a guy that we recruited pretty heavily coming out of high school,” Thompson said. “He played on the same team as a lot of our guys on our current roster at Atlee [High School in Mechanicsville, Va.]. His older sister actually was the Division III women's soccer national player of the year. He has an older brother, Jack Cook, who had a great career with us as well. So, we knew the family very well. But the thing that jumps off the page with Andrew is just his athleticism. His size, his speed, his power.” 

Cook is the kind of player that coaches want, and not just because he’s a Division I transfer from Richmond who ended up in a perfect situation at Christopher Newport. A lot of guys that take as many shots as he does do so because they are either inherently selfish scorers or need to take shots because the team doesn't have any better options. Cook just likes to play lacrosse. Whether he is shooting or not, he’s always out there looking for the right play or the next move. 

“[Cook is] deceptively smooth,” Thompson said. “He uses his wide frame to protect his stick. He can release the ball from multiple locations … and just how quickly he can get a shot off when he knows the slide is coming. He uses his wrist really well to generate speed on his shot. I would definitely say the has that unique combination of speed, power and fluidity in his game.”

Last year, Cook put up an impressive line of 95 points (65 goals). This season, Cook has received more attention than ever, but he’s still produced 15 goals and 12 assists through the Captains’ 5-0 start. And for a guy who likes to shoot, he’s posting the best shooting percentage of his Division III career (39.5 percent).

“I really love getting up and down the field,” Cook said. “I like playing both sides of the ball. I like to make plays with both hands. I love dodging at people with speed and just kind of letting the game come to me.”

Cook, or “Cookie” as he is called by his teammates and coaches, is now a graduate student after completing his bachelor’s degree in business last spring. He sports the same smile on his LinkedIn page as he does in his roster photo, but in his business profile, he sports a pair of smart black glasses. The look immediately transforms him from a monstrous taker of a defenseman’s dignity to an affable finance professional.

“I think when you talk about guys that are player of the year type players, you think about what they do in big moments,” Thompson said. “He can produce for the offense pretty much any time he wants. You have to have that unique combination of skill but also the mentality to want to put the game in your hands when it matters the most.” 

What matters to most players is winning a national championship. It’s a goal for every player in the country when the season starts, but very few of them have the chance to see it through. Christopher Newport is loaded with talent and is ranked No. 2 in the USA Lacrosse Division III Men’s Top 20 as of March 4.

So, of course, lifting the NCAA trophy is foremost in his mind.

“We have a huge senior class, but we also have a huge fifth-year class, and putting those two together, it’s just so unique,” Cook said. “We're probably one of the only Division III schools in the country that has that much experience. I think just relying on the coaches, each other and the chemistry that we've built for our careers here is really going to be beneficial going into those elongated stretches in May when every single second of the game, every ground ball, every pass is just as important as scoring goals.”

Cook doesn't want this season to be the last thing that he does in the sport. And it probably won’t be. With his head coach on the books as the Boston Cannons’ offensive coordinator, and a will to compete at the next level, Cook could be the next in a long line of Division III players to make an outdoor pro lacrosse roster.

“We have a lucky situation where Coach Thompson just had a summer coaching with the Cannons,” Cook said. “[Christopher Newport alum] Max Wayne has been in the PLL for a couple of years now. So, I think it would be silly for me not to have it in the back of my mind. However, I think naturally with this being my last year at CNU, the team goals take the front seat in terms of what I want to accomplish. I’m trying to make sure I’m in a position where I’m putting my team first and making sure that our national goals are at the forefront of my mind, but also putting myself in a situation where, at the end of the day, I can continue playing after my college career. I know, just being the competitor that I am, I won’t be ready to give up lacrosse after my college career is over.”