For years, Sachem was known as a perennial lacrosse power, but like every sport in the district, was hindered by the infamous split during the 2004-05 school year.
It's taken some time, but in just five seasons head coach Jay Mauro and his assistant Rich Petillo managed to bring the boys as far as the Suffolk County Class A quarterfinals and this year the program has nine players committed to play college lacrosse as early as November. It's a sign that Sachem lacrosse is back.
"It's an opportunity for kids younger than us to look up and see they can have this opportunity, too," said Will Murphy, who will play at Manhattan College. "It makes people proud to be a Sachem athlete."
"It's pretty impressive," Mauro said at a press conference held at Sachem North. "It speaks volumes about our program academically and athletically."
Joining Murphy are seniors Evan Bloom (Dartmouth), Nick Loguirato (Dowling), James Kenny (Dowling), Andy Moran (Assumption), Phil Schaefer (Hartwick), Cody Ciolino (Hartwick) and juniors Mike Andreassi (Umass) and Jake Cabble (Robert Morris).
Two years ago the program had five seniors commit to play in college, but there hasn't been an outpouring of this amount of skill for early commitments in nearly a decade at Sachem.
"I've been working at this since seventh grade and it shows that it was all for something," said Bloom, who will play defense at Dartmouth, which competes in the Ivy League. "It goes to show how great coach Mauro and coach Petillo are and how good a program they run. It shows all the work that everyone puts in is paying off."
It's also a much-deserved weight off their shoulders to sign this early in their senior years.
"I don't have to focus on which school I'm going to," Ciolino said. "I can focus on winning games."
Said Schaefer, "now I have one goal to focus on and that's [winning] counties."
Though counties would be a much-welcomed accomplishment, this group, which has a top five seed in Suffolk County to start the season, seems to be aiming higher.
"It could be a special spring," Mauro said. "It's a great group of kids."
