Henry Hasselbeck’s tough choice
WESTWOOD >> There’s a buzz around Xaverian’s lacrosse program.
A formidable junior class and the recent arrival of midfielder Henry Hasselbeck has lifted a Hawk team that won five straight after a season-opening loss to defending Div. 1 champion St. John’s Prep.
Hasselbeck has played baseball and hockey, but older sisters Annabelle and Mallory picked up lacrosse, and he was intrigued.
“I lived in Indiana at the time,” said Hasselbeck, who has verbally committed to Maryland. “My sisters both played lacrosse, but I was a baseball player all through my elementary school years. My mom ended up coaching my sisters, and they needed someone to warm up the goalies. So, I’d be shooting with a girls’ lacrosse stick, warming up my sisters’ lacrosse team. Through that, I got a feeling for the sport, even though no one really played in Indiana at that time. I think that was the origin for me. But once I moved up to Massachusetts in fifth grade, I joined a club team, joined Gorilla Lacrosse up here, and I kind of just fell in love with that.”
Hasselbeck began his career at Belmont Hill. The football and lacrosse staff were quickly impressed with his abilities.
Due to a change in schedule, however, his father Matt (a former standout quarterback who enjoyed a long NFL career) switched to working weekends. With a NEPSAC football schedule with Belmont Hill playing Saturday mornings, Henry’s father “had to leave after the first quarter of every game,” Hasselbeck said. “It was kind of a rough situation. Do I want my Dad to miss the rest of my high school football career? Or do you want to go play big-time football at Xaverian, where he’d get to come to every game?”
Then Matt became an assistant coach at the very same Catholic Conference school the longtime Seattle Seahawk started his own decorated career at, with his son joining him as its quarterback this past fall. Henry’s grandfather Don also returned to the sidelines as a coach, and there was suddenly plenty of chatter along Clapboardtree Street.
“There’s nothing more active than a rumor mill at an all-boys high school,” Xaverian lacrosse coach Daggett Morse joked. “Don’t know what else to do. So, I was like: ‘Ahh, I’ll believe it when I see it.’ I think it was at some point over last summer (that I heard) from the football staff. It was one of those things where it was like we (knew), but (couldn’t) say anything. Wait ‘til it happens, wait ‘til everything’s signed… So that was very exciting. I had coached him before at Nike Nationals, so I knew he was a great kid.”
Hasselbeck has been a key part of the fast start with 12 goals and seven assists on the season. This includes a game-winning snipe against reigning Div. 3 champion Norwell (a 10-9 overtime victory April 15).
“I think the biggest benefit (he provides) is just the effort and attitude he has at practice,” Morse said. “He brings such a great vibe to the practice field every day, and guys have to match his energy, his compete level is so high. He’s just happy to be there. He’s the same kid every day, loves competing. So, it’s really kind of rubbed off on a lot of people. We’re practicing maybe a little bit better.”
During his sophomore year, Hasselbeck attended Maryland’s lacrosse prospecting day. He met some of the officials, and ended up forming a relationship with Terrapins coach John Tillman. Hasselbeck had received lacrosse offers from premier programs such as Harvard, Notre Dame, Syracuse and North Carolina.
But many schools have reached out to Hasselbeck for his football services, the latest offer coming from UConn this past week.
“I really want to focus on just giving my lacrosse team the best that I can finishing out my junior year,” said Hasselbeck. “We’re focused on that. But with college up ahead, I definitely have a big decision to make between the two sports. I love them both. I’ve been playing them my whole life, doing them in my backyard almost my whole life.
“Do I want to go play lacrosse with the best team in the nation? Very biased I would say, because I love the Terps. Or, do I want to compete for the College Football Playoff, and maybe make it to the NFL one day? It’s really just a decision between that, see where my heart wants to pull me.”