M. lax's White, a soldier on and off the field

Going into overtime with the national championship on the line would be a pressure situation for almost any athlete. For senior midfielder Josh White of the men's lacrosse team, this pales in comparison to what he has seen and expects to see.

White enlisted in the army after graduating from St. Mary's School in Annapolis, MD. He was recruited to play for Princeton by head coach Bill Tierney, but deferred admission after getting accepted early decision.

"I wasn't ready to go to college," he said. "I looked into traveling and enrolling in language school, but in the end the army made sense."

White was influenced by his father, a Gulf War veteran, and his grandfather, who was in the Air Force.

"At first it was a great shock," Tierney said of White's decision. "I didn't know what to say, but I knew I had to support him."

While in the military, White completed Airborne School where he learned how to jump out of planes and then went through the very rigorous and challenging Rangers Indoctrination Program, appropriately known as RIP. Only 40 percent of entrants graduate from the program.

Everything worked out for the best, as White not only joined the lacrosse team two years later as a more mature person and a better player, but also won a national title in 2001.

This year's run towards a national title almost came crashing down for White just over two weeks ago. White was on inactive reserve since coming to Princeton, but two weeks ago he was activated and given orders to get ready to head to Iraq and fight for his country.

The timetable was up to him and he could have left in a few weeks or he could have waited until after graduating college in order to depart.

After wrestling with the decision, White felt that he was better off completing the season and graduating with his class.

"It was a brutal decision," White said. "The hardest part wasn't leaving school, it was leaving the season, the guys, and losing my last year of eligibility."

In the end, his father and Tierney were the largest influences in his decision.

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"When he first told me, my initial reaction was 'Let's fight this and get it delayed' but then I realized that he wanted to do this," Tierney said.

After learning this, Tierney knew he had to support his player once again, but he also tried to impress upon him that the same loyalty he showed to his country, he should also show to the team.

"I told him something to the effect of, 'The war will be there in June, the season won't,'" Tierney said. "It felt like I was re-recruiting him," he added with a laugh.

White knew that Tierney had his best interest at heart, and took his advice very seriously.

"You really know how much [Tierney] cares when you need to talk to him about serious matters," White said. "You don't see that when you are getting yelled at for a mistake."

The main hesitation in White's decision was that he did not want to be seen as dodging the draft, which could not be further from the truth.

"I am more than willing to go after graduation," he said.

In his time here, White used the campus as an arena to make people more aware about what life in the war is actually about and what it is like for soldiers in Iraq.

His time spent in the military before college allows him to put lacrosse into some perspective. However, that does not mean his love for the game or his will to win is any less than the next guy.

That is the reason he came to Princeton, which was his first choice since he was a freshman in high school. He came to compete at the highest level and to win.

White has used his time at Princeton to better himself and to make his teammates better. He is described as being a quiet leader who is always available to help the younger players.

Now, he also plays to help keep his mind off his other worries. He does have one less thing to worry about as White, a politics major, submitted his thesis on Monday night.

"The most fitting way we can salute a guy like him is by winning another national title," Tierney said.

"A title would be the greatest thing in the world," White agreed.