Father and Son and the River Hawks’ first win
July 18, 2022
If you don’t want to read about a father and son being reunited in a box rink for one brief week, skip this week’s RTD.
If you don’t want to read about an NABLL box team’s first-ever win, hit delete and wait for next week’s newsletter.
But for those of you who know me, know my son Brian, and know how much I love his every visit home, well - I think you’re in for a treat.
Enjoy…
So, this whole Oswego-should-have-its-own-box-team idea was Brian’s anthem all last summer. He enjoyed playing for the Salt City Eels in the IBLA, but he couldn’t let go of the idea that his hometown should have its own team. Car ride after car ride, he rattled off names of Oswego HS alumni who he thought would jump at the chance to play and help create something new and different in his home Port City.
Then, when he left for the Czech Republic in late August, he challenged me to make it happen.
The IBLA dissolved and gave way to the NABLL, and the Salt City Eels and Utica Yeti also helped encourage my efforts to start up a new team. There were Zoom meetings, email exchanges, and local organizing efforts.
Brian served as my long-distance advisor. He connected me with people at Uncommon Fit for uniforms, and Max Lax for goalie equipment and box pads. He gave me his opinions on team names and logos. I would have preferred to have him here in Upstate NY for these decisions, but that was not meant to be. He had teams to coach, classes to teach, and a new stick business to run in the Czech Republic - and he was getting married in June.
So with the help of Oswego State alumni Doc Nelson ‘78, Jason Webb ‘01, and others, we forged ahead. In February we were asking for seed money from friends and other alumni. The grant from the Shineman Foundation helped tremendously. By early March we were paying league fee deposits and offering player/coach deals to Chris Brim, JD Jones, and Dylan Donahue. By late March we were recruiting potential players. Weekly practices started at the end of April; we had just six players at our first session.
But numbers increased every week. Chris, JD, and Dylan seemed to know every skilled 2022 high school graduate, and we “signed” the likes of Thomas Berry (Tully), Mason Blakemon (C-NS), Jack Beck (West Genesee), and Trey Jones (ES-M). Current college players were brought in, including Zach Cole (Bville/MCC), Luke Hoskin (Bville/Mercyhurst), Jack Prossner (Bville/Merrimack), Jack Rice (Oswego/Salisbury), Evan Kistner (Fulton/Morrisville), Dillon May (ES-M/SUNY Poly), Logan Wilkinson (F-M/Clarkson), Mike Quick (Marcellus/OCC), and Owen Spearing (Auburn/Oswego State). Tyler Spearing, assistant JV coach at Auburn and Brockport alum, also joined us, as did Will Hardy, headed off to Jacksonville in a few weeks after a PG year at Wilbraham & Monson.
Our first game was an eye-opener. We rallied from an 8-5 halftime deficit to tie the Yeti 8-8 in the third quarter. As things went south later in the game, we changed goalies with the score 18-10 about halfway through the fourth quarter. The Yeti revved up their offense and scored 13 goals to go away with a 31-10 final score.
Ouch.
Next game was against the Yeti again. We got better and smarter but lost 18-6. Then we lost by four to the Eels. We were definitely moving in the right direction, but it was taking longer than we liked.
Enter Brian.
Home for less than three weeks, he played more lacrosse here in Upstate NY than many high school or even college players could claim. Just this past week, he played Tuesday night with his friends at Pine Grove in Camillus, and then he came to our River Hawks practice on Thursday night. As a Dad with more than a little bias, I believe he picked up our routine practices a bit and brought new life, new energy. He knew only a handful of his River Hawks teammates, but he quickly made new friends with the others.
He would be able to play just two games with us before returning to the Czech Republic. The first one was Friday night, again against the Yeti, this time at the Utica Aud. With bench coach Ken Kimpel away on vacation, I decided to stand on the bench for the first time this summer. We had all three of our player/coaches present, but I figured I’d work a door if nothing else (I mean, someone should be on the bench not dressed like a player, right?).
With our starting goalie on summer vacation, we were fortunate to register Richie Bennett as a substitute goalie for the night, and he played great. Overall, the whole team played better, but we trailed 4-0 at the end of the first quarter. Dylan put us on the scoreboard, and the next thing we all knew, the score was 4-4. Deja vu. The Yeti recovered and scored the last three goals of the half and led 7-4. The glass-is-half-full guy would be quick to point out that we won the second quarter 4-3.
Long story short, we battled throughout but trailed 12-5 after three quarters. Still, we played hard, and won the fourth stanza by a 3-2 score. We ended up losing each half 7-4. Final score: 14-8. Another loss, but not by 21 goals, and not by 12…
After a short night of sleep (I came home and washed uniforms till 1 AM), we got back to the Aud by 11:30 for a neutral site 1 PM game vs. the Virginia Golden Bears. I knew little about them, except that they represented their division last September in Florida at the IBLA national championships - so we were ready for some stiff competition.
Hearing two weeks ago that our #1 goalie was on vacation, Brian had gone to work finding us another talented goalie. He had first met Connor Waller at the 2019 LAXNAI tournament at the Onondaga Nation, when he played for Brian’s U15 Glasgow Clydesider team. Brian still had his contact information, so he reached out and invited him to play for the River Hawks - and Connor accepted the invitation! He’d been playing box lacrosse back home in Ontario, Canada as well as playing in the Upstate College Box Lacrosse League in Buffalo and Rochester. We got him registered and he and his parents made the 4-5 hour trip from central Ontario.
So maybe it was the goalie, or maybe it was the dominance of Logan Wilkinson on face-offs, or maybe the addition of Mike Whalen on defense, but we played great against the Golden Bears. We were missing two of our three player/coaches, so I figured I’d help Coach Brim and represent the squad in a more formal fashion; I took my position on the bench again.
I think we were up 5-2 after 15 minutes, but then we extended the lead to 11-4 at halftime. Will Hardy was either scoring or assisting on what seemed like every Oswego goal (I think he finished with six goals and who-knows-how-many assists). Evan Kistner, Luke Hoskin, and Jack Rice each had four goals. Mason Blakemon, Thomas Berry, Mike Whalen, Owen Spearing, Jack Prosser, and others also got their names on the score sheet (or should/would have; stats for the game have been hard to come by).
And yes, Brian helped push transition and ended up with three goals and three assists, probably the most points we’ve scored in transition in our first four games combined. After watching him scoop up a loose ball and score on a breakaway, I said to anyone who would listen, “I will never get tired of seeing that!”
The second half saw some Golden Bear offense, but in my mind the outcome was never in doubt. Maybe the closest they got was five goals - but we kept scoring. The score was 15-7 after three quarters, and we just kept our figurative feet on the gas. Final score: Oswego River Hawks 24, Virginia Golden Bears 10.
In my biased mind, Brian stepped up and acted like a coach, captain, teacher, and veteran leader - and I think his teammates responded as such. He talked constantly on the bench, telling players what to look for, where to be, how to sub more efficiently. When a teammate looked back and waved good-bye to a Virginia player as he ran by, he was met with reproach by Brian when he got to the bench. “Just play the game,” Brian reminded him. I loved it!
Forgive me, but I was in Dad heaven. The opportunities to watch Brian play any lacrosse, from such a close distance, are far too few, but to be there in Utica on Saturday afternoon, and watch him and everyone else play well, to watch the team win its first game of its existence, the team he persuaded me to create, well… it was the best.
And did we have fun? Maybe this pic from Yeti photographer Mark Murphy answers that question.
Heck, even the refs were having a good time!
For the record, that’s Brian on the left, #14, leaning over the boards, with Jack Prosser (#10), player/head coach Chris Brim (#19), and injured player Jason Webb, all sharing a laugh with referee Chad Reese.
The locker room afterwards was a happy place, too - but nothing crazy. We’ve got a lot more lacrosse to play, and upcoming games are going to be more important than Saturday’s out-of-division game. Chris spoke in the locker room, then I said a few words, and then Brian addressed the team. He spoke to the younger players, especially, encouraging them to enjoy every second of college lacrosse, but he also reminded everyone that lacrosse can continue long after NCAA eligibility expires. He invited his new River Hawks teammates to travel like he has, to go live overseas for a while, and to follow wherever the game might take them.
I’ll admit that I got choked up.
Even on a brief, three-week USA tour, I think Brian managed to put his stamp on this box lacrosse team. I hope his teammates will remember him; I have a sneaking suspicion most of his many various teammates do.
But the kid’s weekend wasn’t done yet. Not by a long shot.
He stayed for the day’s nightcap, a 6 PM matchup between the Yeti and the Golden Bears. He officiated the game, and I got to sit up in some box near the Aud’s roof and do play by play with Herkimer CC head coach Bob Leary for the YouTube live-stream.
Brian was still filled with the energy and passion he demonstrated as a player just hours earlier, and I enjoyed watching him enjoying himself. And when we drove (his van!) home later that night, we talked. About box. About the River Hawks. About the Czech Republic.
And Sunday morning, he dragged new teammate Jack Rice into my car and the two of them went to play some open-air box lacrosse in Webster. And Sunday night, he and Jane drove down to Henninger High School to play some field lax with the Blarney Stone team, where his team won by a goal.
“It’s more social than it is lacrosse,” he told me. “I just want to see people before I go back to Prague.”
He gets it. After all, if you’re doing it right, it’s always social. Whether it’s youth level or junior high, JV or varsity, college or post-collegiate, it’s always social (see past and future pieces about Lake Placid).
Brian and Jane fly back to the Czech Republic tomorrow. With their departure, maybe I can get back to what had been my routine - playing hockey twice a week, trying to follow a diet that’s been working, and getting out for a few runs each week.
But, man, am I going to miss him.
Dear Brian and Jane,
Congratulations on your wedding; we loved having you here in Oswego for the past three weeks. Safe travels. Good luck in the European Box Lacrosse Championships in Hannover, Germany July 30-August 6 (did I mention that Brian’s on the Czech National Team?); everyone in Lake Placid will be missing you that week - but no one more than me.
Love, Dad.
PS - I’ll see you in Limerick on August 9!
Have a great week, everyone, and thanks for reading.
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But most importantly, stay safe, stay smart, and stay kind.
- Dan Witmer
daniel.witmer@oswego.edu