St. Ed’s varsity boys lacrosse team made the short trip over the bridge to Vero Beach High for an important district showdown this past Tuesday. The visitors were paired off against a team that ousted them from the district playoffs a year ago by a score of 9-8 in overtime.
It was a game that had playoff seeding implications, but moreover the Pirates to a man wanted desperately to come back with a W.
In an up-and-down 2015 campaign, St. Ed’s started 0-2 before stringing together three straight wins, two of which came against district foes South Fork and Martin County.
Head Coach Andrew Scheffer’s crew took a couple of steps backwards after that, dropping a district game at Jensen Beach and a non-district encounter with Jupiter High.
The Pirates entered the match against Vero with a 3-4 record overall, 2-1 in District 19. The remainder of the schedule will be outside the district.
While its record doesn’t jump off the page, St. Ed’s is clearly disadvantaged by the FHSAA’s single class alignment pitting them against much larger schools. Nevertheless the Pirates continue to stay competitive despite being among the smallest schools with a varsity lacrosse program.
‘We are arguably in the toughest district in the state,” Scheffer said. “We are the fourth smallest school in Florida playing lacrosse. We go toe-to-toe with Class 6A, 7A and 8A schools.
“We usually play better as the season goes along because we have a limited roster and it’s hard for us to go full field. The only way we go full field is when we have a game. Who knows what’s going to happen by the end of the year.“
Scheffer appointed four team captains for 2015. Johnny Schwerer and Ian Leveton are seniors. Mason Heim and Kevin Murphy are juniors.
I’m one of three long pole defensemen,” Schwerer said. “We’re small in numbers right now with about 18 guys on a good day. That’s fine, but it means that we all have to work hard. Nobody gets a break. It’s like every other sport we play here.”
“These four guys give us pretty good leadership,” Scheffer said. “Schwerer was accustomed to that role as captain of the football team. Heim is a solid guy, he’s both thoughtful and calm out on the field. As our No. 1 goalie, Murphy is quite vocal about what the defense should be doing out there. We converted Leveton from midfielder to defense and he is playing very well.”
“Our team is probably at its strongest on defense,” Scheffer said. “But the other guys are also playing well together. Our midfielders are really strong. We are a little bit younger on attack.” The leading scorers are juniors Austin Strazzulla, Josh Hurwitz and Heim. Eight teammates have also cracked the scoring column.
“Heim and Strazzulla are midfielders. On attack we have Hurwitz and two sophomores, Ritter Marchant and Barrett Rhymes. Marchant is the glue that holds our attack together. Rhymes is coming along nicely.” Rhymes holds down fourth place among goal scorers.
“Josh (Hurwitz) has been in the weight room over the summer and fall,” Scheffer told us. “So he’s bigger, stronger and he’s really been going hard to the goal. He’s also fast and beats most defensemen on the run. He’s looking over the field a little more and getting his share of assists. So our attack is coming along.”
Murphy has been a mainstay guarding the net, but sophomores AJ Leiva and Matt Hendren are rotated in frequently. “We are very fortunate to have three very good goalies,” Scheffer said. “It’s a battle every day to determine which one should start. Kevin (Murphy) has a little more experience and it’s showing so far. He’s playing at a high level in goal, stopping the ball outside the goal, and clearing the ball.”
Wins and losses aside, lacrosse has become a showcase sport and several Pirate athletes are already on the radar of college recruiters. The best ways to get noticed include prospect camps and playing for high-level club teams.
“Austin Strazzulla is definitely getting some looks,” Scheffer said. “He has surprised coaches with how talented he really is. He’s arguably the best player on the field every time we play. Mason Heim is actually looking to go to MIT. Leveton is considering going there as well. I’ve talked to the coach at MIT about both of those guys. Danny Walsh is getting attention from Division 1 schools and he’s only a sophomore. He’s been playing tremendously well.”
Heim added an off-beat school activity to his three sport portfolio. He told us “conditioning for football helps me year round. Basketball helps me build short speed sprints. I’ve learned time management through sports and that helps in all aspects of school. I play bridge as a way to relax and have fun. So all of this comes together.”
Walsh says he feeds off every save made by the goalie he defends. “Especially late in the game, with two minutes to go and everyone’s a little tired, when the goalie makes a great save you are hyped up and ready to go. We rely on each other and have each other’s back.”
Strazzulla finished by noting “I played a lot of lacrosse during the summer and I was aware that my role was to quarterback the team and score.” As for facing much larger schools, he said: “They can only put ten guys on the field at a time and the best ten are going to win. That’s the way I look at it.”
