Amidst all of the excitement at the end of Fox Chapel’s school year was the quiet success of the Boys’ Lacrosse team. The club put together an 11-8 record and finished the season as Western Pennsylvania Scholastic Lacrosse Association Division Two Runner-Up. “It was a memorable year,” Coach Lenny Labriola says. “We hit our stride when we needed to. Our players never gave up.”

The Foxes’ fortitude showed the entire evening of the final battle for the championship. Though the skirmish started at 5pm, two lightening delays and an overtime meant the dust did not settle until after 9pm. The fight in the Foxes forced a tie and the OT, but Hampton scored a goal two minutes in to win the WPSLA crown. It was a tough loss for the Foxes—so close, but so far. “Just one goal shy of the title,” Labriola says. Runner-Up isn’t the preferred finish, but it’s not bad for a sport not part of WPIAL or officially sponsored by the school. That’s a nice accomplishment for the 23-year old coach and the program, which started two first-time varsity players literally learning “play-by-play.” “They [all] believed in each other, and when we played our game no one could really stop us,” Labriola says.

The Fox Chapel Lacrosse team was led by four seniors who’d played together for six or more years: captain Dan Uminski (All-Star), captain Tyler Keenan (All-Star), Tim Dodson, and Denny Cestra. Uminksi, Keenan and Dodson led the team in scoring in that order. Junior Steve Slager, Labriola says, was the team’s “best all-around defender” and played through a knocked-out tooth occurring in the finals. Derek Grego, a sophomore, “progressed into one of our game-changing performers.” Juniors Colin Fry and Jeff Grunski were “very versatile and could play any position.” Sophomores were some of the team’s most dynamic players, according to Labriola. Brendan Eisenbrandt “creates opportunities and has a blistering shot,” while Alex George’s nickname was “The Solution” because “anytime you need something done you put Alex in and it’s a great coaching move.” Junior captain Nick Englehardt, a first-year varsity starter finished in the top eight WPSLA goalies with 21 saves alone in the championship face-off. Junior captain Steve Smith, who had 70 percent on face-offs and led the midfield in minutes, led by his actions and attitude, the coach notes. Sophomore Conor Ryan “helped solidify the defense,” and sophomore Neal Mollick—the “ground-ball warrior”—grabbed Most Improved Player. Freshmen Tom Stewart and Charlie Otte “developed into good players and will be good assets to the program for years to come.”

A coaching staff with college playing experience and also graduated from Fox Chapel the same year assisted Labriola. He says the team would not have made Runner-Up without Chris Kratsas, Dan Torockio and Ty Wessel. “We wouldn’t be where we are today withut them.” Follow all the action of Fox Chapel Lacrosse and see more photos of their season at www.fchslax.org