My first two weeks of March of 2017 were spent primarily on one thing, high school varsity lacrosse. For the second year in a row, I would be the head coach of Neuqua Valley HS, my alma mater. Get a sneak peek and check out the video from the season below.
My return as head varsity coach in 2017 makes me the second longest tenured Coach in program history. Tying my coach for 2006/07 seasons, Tim Hurst, and just a couple years behind the man who started the program, Dave Neff, who held a 4 year reign from 2001-2004.
The fact that I was the first repeat coach in 10 years and only the 3rd coach to coach for more than one year in a 17 year program history was promising for the season's beginning.
I had the boys doing some summer 6am practices, captains practices in the fall, and winter training as well. Because of this, they came into the season ready to rock.
We had a great first day of tryouts on February 27th. I established some physical requirements this year. 6 minute mile, 50 pushups, and 50 situps. We had decent weather the first day, and it was great to see a handful of players meet the 6 minute mile. It was hard, but i had at least 4 players come in at 6:01 and unfortunately I wasn't nice enough to give it them! It should be no surprise to anyone from Illinois who plays spring sports, but the second day of tryouts was cancelled because of it being too cold. On the third day, Wednesday March 1st, we practiced in the snow on the turf at North Central College which was fun. The staff this year is stacked, with 3 full time assistants and a game day volunteer assistant. Let's do it!
After a couple of weeks of playing on the turf at North Central, brings us to Monday March 13th, it was still snowing, so we had a little team bonding event at 1223 where the boys played some dodgeball. Organized by class, I think the seniors or juniors ended up being dominate throughout the games of dodgeball. We had also ran a few chalk talk sessions throughout the season, where we went over the offense and defense for the year.
The day after, March 14th, was picture day for the varsity cats. We wore our new 1/4 zip boathouse jackets and zipped them all the way up for the photo. A unique look. After the photos, we took a little trip down memory lane with a tour of the hallways of Neuqua with Coach Dario and Stout. Peeping the class photos from 2007, 10, and 12. Boys were hyped. Trelo and Stout look like brothers. Also there is a lone lacrosse trophy in the trophy case at the school from the Rocks on the Fox tournament in St. Charles from 2004. Try to find it kids!
Fast forward through another of week of intense practices, conditioning, and hard work and we found ourselves at the Wheaton North/South shootout on March 18th. Despite losing the first game to St. Chalres North 2-5, we finished the day 2-1. Knocking off WWS 8-1 and Geneva 8-2. After the days games, I headed back to downtown Chicago to meet up with Rach's side of the family for a dinner at Quartino for her mother's Bday. After enjoying a quick drink and some pizza, I drove over to Thalia Hall to catch the Strand of Oaks show with John and Melissa. Timothy Showalter put on a fabulous show, rocking the place, even playing my favorite song JM.
I had to wake up somewhat early the next day to get to the fields by noon for the winners bracket at the North/South Shootout on Sunday March 19. We knocked out Benet in the first game 8-2, and then played Wheaton North for the Championship. In a low scoring battle, we edged them out 5-4 to win the NSS for the first time in program history! Trophy time for coach and company. A good start to competition for the season!
We kicked off the week starting on Monday March 20th with practice in a parking lot before our first game of the year against a tough, new opponent, Lincoln Way. We took on Lincoln Way at home on Tuesday March 21st at home at Commissioner's on a cold March night and dominated most of the game, especially on defense. We pulled out the win, 6-2, and only gave the boys 6 sprints for their efforts. At the beginning of the year we set goals to offensively score 12 goals every game, and defensively give up less than 6. Any less or more would be a sprint for each point we fell short or went over. Hence the 6 sprints.
Two days later, on Thursday March 23rd, we took a bus to Lemont, and despite the game being delayed well over 90 minutes due to lightening, we dominated for a 16-1 victory. The coolest part about this game was the fact that their field is on the top of a hill, although this caused the lightening delays to continue considering you could see lightening 25 miles away in Naperville where we came from. No sprints this time.
Spring Break means no lax for a couple weeks. On Saturday March 25th, Rachel and I met at Dmk with Brian and Megan. Afterwards we headed to the former HQ in Lincoln Park, now Replay, but there was no Q*Bert which was the ultimate disappointment. We then did a little bar crawl to Burnt city brewing, Rose's, and ended at Prost. This time we didn't get full liter's like at my Bachelor Party.
On Thursday March 30th I set a record for my fastest shot, finally hitting triple digits. 100 MPH with a newly strung whip stick that I surely couldn't make a pass with to save my life. Also, it should be known that I am super weak at this point, not strong at all, nothing a little whip can't fix.
On Saturday April 1st, I met up with some Adrian alumni in Elmhurst for the Bulldogs vs elmhurst game. After the game we headed to Pints bar for beers. I then met up with family at Phil's for his Bday and some dinner. Finally I picked up Rachel from the airport that evening.
Back to NV lax season on Monday April 3rd for practice. The game on the 4th was cancelled, because Benet was afraid, so we had practice. But to the teams dismay, the ball bag boys forgot the ball bags, so we ran the entire practice. That's a lesson learned!
A few days later on Friday April 7th, we traveled to Wheaton Warrenville South and won a sloppy game 8-2. We should have won by a lot more, but the boys were now 3-0. Great start to the year.
On Tuesday April 11th, we knocked off Wheaton North 12-8, including a goal at the buzzer by Perry before he got lit up by a late hit. He scored from 15 out as time expired to keep the boys off the the line, dedication and determination.
Two days later, on April 13th, we took on the feared Naperville Central, who we lost to in double OT the year before. This year we really should have dominated, but let them get to our heads and were down early, we came back and took a big lead, only to let it slip away in the last few minutes. We held on though and won the game 12-11. Big win for the boys, what some would call the conference championship game.
That Saturday, April 15th, we traveled to Maine South and put on one of our most dominating performances of the year, winning 14-1 against my former teammate and roommate, Cam Staffel. That night, to celebrate, I went to the LBC show at House of Blues where Rach and I once again ran into Dan Shoeman, that guy is a legend at LBC shows!
The following week we played on Wednesday April 19th. To celebrate Rachel's Bday, the cats moved to 7-0 by beating Fenwick 15-8. Grant Peoples (class of 06 and only All-State player in Neuqua history) took the blue line to the game and was able to see the power of the squad that we had going!
Big shoutout to my wife, Rachel, who somehow puts up with me scheduling games on her Bday. We headed to a hibachi grill the following day on April 20th to celebrate.
In preparation for our rescheduled game on Saturday, we played some duck duck goose, and had a team dinner after practice on Friday. The following day, Saturday April 22nd, we drove over to Benet to dominate them 12-6, despite missing our best attackman and leading scorer Domek for all but 3 minutes of the first quarter. To celebrate Rachel's bday with her fam, we headed to the Playground Theatre that evening to see some improv comedy. That night when having her parents and brother over, we left our window with no screen open. Huge mistake as a ton of bugs found their way into our hot apartment and were on the ceiling. Luckily that was no small task for our dust buster which sucked them up!
The following week would be a busy one. On Monday April 24th, we knocked off Geneva 12-5 at their home field. The following day we absolutely dominated St. Charles East in a 16-5 blowout at home. Two days after that, despite not having either of our goalies for the first half (we had the JV goalie Nevins step in for the smallest goalie matchup ever) we knocked off a stingy defense in Naperville North 7-4. They held us to our lowest point total since the first game of the year, but despite having to do sprints, the cats were now 11-0 for the first time in school history! That night would be the last time we went to our favorite burger bar, Dukes. Beth, Rachel, and I went there, it was under new management, with new uncomfortable booths, and we were not impressed. And apparently no one else was either because it closed a couple of weeks later.
Saturday April 29th marked senior day. The one day our boys got to play in the stadium at Neuqua Valley. Something I never was able to do or imagine as a player. We, currently ranked #5, had a tough opponent in #6 Hinsdale Central. In a windy and very cold effort, we fell short to a cocky and pumped up Red Devil team 5-9 for our first loss of the year. It was a tough way to end senior day, but we still had a mission to complete for the rest of the year. We celebrated our seniors after the game with a lunch at Marasco's. In a couple days, Metry and I were interviewed by NCTV17 to discuss the official sanctioning of lacrosse as a sport in District 204. Peep the interview and see me talk below.
A few days later on May 2nd, we bounced back with a big win at home against OPRF, 14-8. This was followed by another tough opponent in St. Charles North on Thursday May 4th. A team that had beaten us in the preseason North/South Shootout tournament. The boys came ready to play and we put a whooping on them 13-4 for a big big win.
Random interlude. On Saturday May 6th, I finished my S-Town podcast (one of my top 10 podcasts of the second half of 2017), picked up some McDonald's for lunch, built Rachel's new desk and drank some Margaritas. Later that night Brian and Megan came over, and so did our neighbors from down the hall. I provided some brews and frozen pizza. Good night.
The next week, we had a team dinner after practice on Monday May 8th at Domek's to prep for our arch rival Waubonsie Valley. On Tuesday May 9th, we had perhaps our best game of the year. The Cats spanked the Warriors 19-5 to win conference for the first time since 2014 and second time since 2006 when I was a player. Amazing! We even made T-shirts a few months later, just like the good old days when I was playing, check em out below!
Two days later, we rode to St. Ignatius on a 2 1/2 bus ride to dominate them 16-8. I had to sleep at my parents after the long night. The cats are now 15-1 and have their sights set on more school records.
We traveled to Glenbard West on Friday May 12th, another top 10 matchup in the state. After leading 5-1 at halftime, we were outscored 2-11 in the second half by the Hilltoppers and lost 7-12. A tough way to start the weekend.
Our last game of the regular season was scheduled to be against Bartlett, unfortunately they had to cancel because of a such a rainy season and needing to makeup conference games. luckily I was able to get St. Viator, another top 10 team on the schedule last minute.
Almost a week after our second loss of the season, we took on St. Viator at Benedictine, our fourth homefield of the year, on Thursday May 18th. Their team came out hot and didn't look back, we suffered a 7-16 loss and didn't stand a chance the entire game. They were hyped. My cousin Brandon Lowery came to check out the game, good man.
This had us ending the regular season at 15-3, the best regular season in Cats history, most wins in cats history, and least losses. However, despite all of these records, we had just lost 2 games in a row, making coach a little worried for playoffs. After the game, I took my cousin from North Carolina Brandon, and his friend Jessie out to Franks in Lincoln Park with Beth and Rachel. Fun times at Frank's always.
Over the weekend, the playoff bracket was set, we would play Wheaton North in the first round on Tuesday.
After a good practice on Monday May 22nd, Coach Dario was kind enough to host the team for a dinner at his restaurant. I attempted to serve some drinks (soda/water) to the kids and wow I would never cut it in the restaurant industry. It is harder than it looks!
Tuesday May 23rd, we hosted Wheaton North at Benedictine, where we had just lost a few days ago. We had beaten Wheaton North earlier in the season 12-8, a game that ended with a controversial hit. Our team was coming off of two losses and needed a big win. The boys dominated and played well the entire game. We won 12-5 and were on to the second round of the playoffs just like the year before.
After another successful practice, we headed to our other home field, Nike Park to host York on Thursday May 25th. After a back and forth game which we played pretty well the entire game, we won 10-7. A second playoff game win for the first time in school history and on to the quarter finals for the first time since I was a player in 2006 when we knocked off Stevenson to go play New Trier (we only had to win 1 game to get to the quarter finals back then).
We began to prepare for our next opponent, #3 Grayslake North who had an all-american midfielder who was headed to Syracuse next year. On Saturday May 27th we took the long bus ride up to Grayslake, John's current town of residence. Nerves were clearly in place once we stepped off the bus. The game went back and forth, but we maintained a lead throughout. As time wound down and we possessed the ball with an 11-9 lead, we realized we would be headed to the final four for the first time in school history.
John came to the game and snapped me the entirety of the game, leaving before we were done running a couple of post game sprints. On the bus ride home I treated the boys to some McDonald's to celebrate. Reminded me of post college games. McChickens for all!
After the Grayslake game I met up with Rachel and Becca and some other friends at 90 Miles, a Cuban restaurant. It was good to see her, as she had moved to Arizona earlier in the year.
For the first time all year, I had practice on the day of rest, Sunday May 28th. We needed to prepare for the most feared and dominant team in the state, New Trier. A team that knocked me out of the quarter finals in 2006. A team that has won the state championship 11 times in the past 20 years. A battle is ahead, the cats will be ready.
We drove up to New Trier on Wednesday May 31st, for our first semi-final game ever. The final four, #2 seed versus #3 (technically #6 but we beat #3 so I figured we became that number). We were down 4-7 at half and 6-9 in the 3rd, only to let the game slip away. After a hard fought game, we came up short and lost to New Trier 7-16. Rachel came to her first varsity lax game and my dad was there too. How nice and supportive of family I have :)
The Cats finished off a record setting 2017 by bowing out of the state tournament in the semi finals 16-7 to New Trier. It was 7-4 at half and 9-6 midway through the 3rd. We just couldn't get a run going and it got away from us near the end of the third. We set a school record 18 wins and 4 losses, Dupage Valley conference champions for first time since 2014, north-south shootout champs for the first time, 12 all conference selections (school record), first time winning a second (& third) playoff game, second quarter finals appearance (first since 2006) and first semi-final appearance in school history. We will miss our 13 seniors and welcome them as alumni, but look forward to returning 20 underclassmen for 2018. Go Cats.
We ended up having 5 seniors in the all star game taking place at brother rice high school on Tuesday June 6 at 8p. The IHSLA have also asked myself and my coaching staff to coach one of the teams. Quite the honor for the end of a great season.
On Monday June 5th we had our Club Banquet at Bolingbook golf club. It went pretty darn well and in honor of Eble not being there, Coach Hague, Stout, Dario, Shotts, & I took some shots and had some drinks before the speeches. The teams success lead to a positive event and probably my best public speaking event to date!
Awards this year:
Most Improved: Caiden Perry
Coaches Award: Mitch Higdon
Best Defense: Miles Rathell
Best Midfield: Jake Formento
Best Attack Colin Domek
Team MVP: Colin Domek
The next day, was an extended day of lacrosse for 4 players and our coaching staff. Tuesday June 6th was the 2017 State All Star Game and I was selected to head coach one of the teams. The game took place at Brother Rice HS in the city. My dad's alma mater. He came out to the game of course, and cheered extra loud for me. Thanks Dad, love you!
After messing around for the majority of the first 3 quarters, my squad turned it up and we pulled off a victory, 15-14. Domek had 2 goals and an assist, Conrad had a goal with his pole, Marasco was our only goalie and came up big in cage, and Sessa balled out pushing in transition. What a great way to cap off the 2017 season. See the roster here with me as coach!
What an amazing year. By far my best and favorite year of coaching ever. A return in 2018?
A few months later, after the school had named it a school sport, I was re-hired as head coach, becoming the first official lacrosse coach for Neuqua Valley in IHSA history. We also had an alumni game this summer that a few alumni game to. Let's hope for more next time!
Special thanks to my assistant coaches from last year, Dario, Adam, Conor, and Eble, & JV Coach, Coach Shotts.
The work continues. See you next year
Go Cats
Coach Maluta