Thursday, April 16, 2020 was supposed to be the Boys Lacrosse team's senior night honoring four young men (Zach Sly, Travis Otte, Matthew Gerlach, and Lucas Rosenbaum). Two senior girls and avid LAX fans wanted to make sure these seniors were still honored on their senior night. On Thursday, they drove to the seniors' houses and dropped off a COVID-19 care package, hand-made signs that they would have held while in the stands, and a banner for each senior that would have hung up in the stadium.
The Boys Lacrosse program is four years old (est. Spring 2017) and this senior class was very instrumental in the growth of the program, not only in size but also talent. The program began with only 13 players in 2017 and has grown to 32 players and four coaches this year. This year’s senior class helped lead the team to a program record of wins (3) and total goals scored (47) in a season. The four seniors were all part of the Man Down Unit which did not allow a goal for an opposing team over their last three games of the season, killing 18 consecutive penalties without surrendering a goal when Concordia was a man down.
Prior to this season, the program was 2-28 over their first three seasons. In the 2020 campaign, the team was playing very well and was 3-4 Overall (2-2 District) and could have won several more games. Due to COVID-19, the remainder of the season was cancelled by the Texas High School Lacrosse League (THSLL) which cancelled five remaining regular season games and the City Playoffs for the Crusaders.
One senior, Zach Sly, was the only member of the program to play for the Crusaders all four years and has seen the growth. During his Concordia lacrosse career, Sly played every position on the field and was the starting goalie the last two years. This season, he made 60 saves and led to the team to a 7-0 shut out win at Awty for the final game of the season.
Zach commented, “The lacrosse program has been a big part of my high school experience. Being there from the start of the program and seeing the improvement we’ve made the past four years has been mind-blowing. I remember trying to play through a game freshman year with only one sub, and now we’ve got over 30 guys on the team. It’s amazing to see all the hard work start to come to fruition that’s been put into this program by the coaches, players, parents, and athletic department. I’m very thankful for the family who established the program which has helped me develop a love for the sport of lacrosse.”
One of many special memories of this group of seniors is that after a sophomore ended up breaking his arm during a game, the four seniors visited him after he got home from surgery and brought him ice cream.
Head Coach Jeff Anderson said, “We already know we will miss these young men. Next year, we will realize just how much we will miss their leadership and LAX skills. We wish them luck in college and hope to see them playing on the club teams at Baylor, UT, and Texas A&M. The whole purpose of our program is to develop great men of character while learning a new sport, and these seniors are the prime example of the end result of what we strive to teach. Bones heal, chicks dig scars, and glory to God lasts forever!”
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Concordia will return many key players for next season and will look to continue to build upon this year’s success. Offensively, Concordia looks optimistic as they will return almost the entire starting attack and midfield from this season featuring Owen S. (Jr.), Jadon F. (So.), Ben S. (Jr.), and Matthew B. (So.) who were responsible for 86% of Concordia’s goals this season. Sammy A. (Jr.) and Jake T. (Jr.) will help lead the young defense next season as well as protecting goalie Jake C. (So.) who will step into the cage. The team will also return experienced lacrosse players Rylan H. (So.), Lucas J. (So.), Max F. (So.), and Andrew B. (Fr.) who missed this season due to injuries.