Lacrosse at its Best Humility
CONNOR PLAYS
Joe Breschi dabbed his way into the hearts of his North Carolina players, leading the Tar Heels to their first NCAA title since 1991.
Connor McKemey, who had nearly 90 percent of his body burned in a backyard fire in 2008, joined the High Point men’s lacrosse program as a manager in 2013 and became a team favorite.
But he felt
incomplete. McKemey wanted to get back on the field, so he and Panthers coach Jon Torpey worked to improve his skills and make it a possibility. After training with the team in the fall and early spring, McKemey accomplished his goal.
“The moment
the pads go on, I’m just there. I’m in the moment. I’m living in it,” he said. “Especially now, I’m living out my dream.” McKemey’s story first appeared on the cover of the March 2011 edition of Lacrosse Magazine. He said his dream was to play at High Point. Torpey connected with McKemey after the magazine came out. “That article
started a relationship with Connor McKemey that has grown into an unbreakable player-coach bond,” Torpey said. “To say I love the young man would be an understatement.”
NEVER FORGOTTEN
The highlight of US Lacrosse’s Grand Opening Weekend came on Sept. 11, when 42 New York City firefighters and police officers faced off in the Bravest vs. Finest game, commemorating the 15th anniversary of 9/11.
It was a day of reflection for everyone involved, including the Fee family. Frank Fee, who lost 11 members of his FDNY Rescue 1 team, refereed the game and his nephew John Fee played for Team Bravest. “They’re both
two passions in my life, firefighting and lacrosse,” Frank Fee said. “I realized it was time to — this is going to sound selfish — to do something for myself. I thought it would be a great way to honor the guys up in my company and the fire department to participate in this game.”
NYPD played in honor of Ronnie Kloepfer, an officer and lacrosse player who died rescuing workers from the World Trade Center. “He did everything for us. It was devastating to lose him,” Officer Dennis Kenefick said. “It’s very hard to watch the news every [anniversary]. It’s good that we can come together with the fire department and play the sport that we love.”
USlaxmagazine.com
TIERNEY’S LEGACY Bill Tierney,
architect of seven NCAA championships at Denver and Princeton, was honored Oct. 15 at the field named after him, as his current and former teams faced off in a fall scrimmage. The field was the vision of his former player, US Lacrosse Foundation Board chair Ed Calkins.
When told his former players started a national campaign to have something named in his honor, Tierney quipped, “That’s wonderful, Ed. That will be a nice bookcase.”
It turned out to be much more. Tierney thanked his former players and coaches, and even the referees, during a pre-game ceremony. “You think of the people that have fields dedicated after them,” Tierney said. “In a kind of silly way, most people that have a field named after them are dead. Hopefully, I plan on coaching for a lot more years. ... For this one day, it’s going to be about the people I’ve been around, the people I’ve coached and the people that I love.”
“I’m so proud of them,” he said as he choked up. “I’m so proud of all of them.” Breschi’s raw emotion — and the ensuing viral dab video — captured the attention of the lacrosse world and generated a buzz around the program heading into the final four, a place the Tar Heels had not been since 1993. That the road to Philadelphia went through Columbus made it all the more poetic. “I thanked them for bringing me back home, not just to where I got started as a head coach, but to where my son is,” said Breschi, who visited his son’s gravesite. “I told them I had three-and-a-half great years of wonderful memories with Michael. What you have is an opportunity to make your own memories.” North Carolina went on to defeat Loyola in the NCAA semifinals May 28 and faced Maryland in an epic Memorial Day final. The game included 27 goals and multiple momentum swings before Chris Cloutier sealed the 14-13 win in overtime. The Tar Heels won their first NCAA championship since 1991 and became the first team to do so unseeded.
After the game, Breschi praised his team, which endured challenges throughout the 2016 regular season. “I look at the second half of our season and how we just found a way to win throughout,” Breschi said. “We just kept battling today, the same as we have all year. We never wavered in our faith and trust and belief that we were going to win.” North Carolina had the talent to make it to Philadelphia, but at 3-3 on the season after a loss to UMass, its prospects of even reaching the tournament were in question. That’s when Breschi asked his captains to stay behind on the team bus for a talk. “What’s going on guys?” Breschi asked. Then came a passionate players-only meeting. “Watching you guys play soft is terrible,” redshirt freshman midfielder Mike D’Alessandro, who has had four knee surgeries in three years, told teammates as he sobbed. “I’d die to be on that field, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to play again. I don’t see anybody diving to check people, diving for ground balls, bodying people up. It’s making me sick to see you guys take it for granted.” After those conversations, the Tar Heels didn’t look back. They finished the regular season 5-2 and, after an ACC semifinal loss to Syracuse, rallied off four straight wins over Marquette, Notre Dame, Loyola and Maryland to win it all. “This was about a lot of hard work and belief and trust in one another,” Breschi said. “It’s been an incredible journey.” USL
Reporting by Gary Lambrecht and Corey McLaughlin was used in this article.
December 2016 US LACROSSE MAGAZINE 39
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
