LASTING LEGACY
Former Ridley, Springfield lacrosse stars battle in Rivalry Alumni game
RIDLEY TWP. >> From an outsider’s perspective, it was confusing. But Nick Eufrasio and Kyle Bush felt right at home Friday.
In the first Rivalry Alumni Game between former boys lacrosse players at Ridley and Springfield high schools, the Green Raiders’ delegation wore No. 27. It’s a number cemented in greenand-white lore, that of the late Nick Colleluori, a Ridley standout who 13 years ago Thursday lost his battle with cancer, inspiring the HEADstrong Foundation and its quest to help families battling the disease.
Of the 40-some players on Ridley’s squad, Eufrasio and Bush understood the legacy more than most. Both had played on HEADstrong’s club team. And when both headed to college, they pushed to memorialize Colleluori by wearing No. 27.
“We both had it in our blood,” Bush said. “When I went to college, I wore 27. It really didn’t feel any different today. I think it actually made me play a little better.”
Bush scored a pair of goals, and Eufrasio was part of a solid defensive effort at Phil Marion Field, as Ridley topped Springfield, 13-7, in what they hope will be an annual tradition.
Nearly 100 players were involved, scanning more than three decades of history for programs that have combined for 11 state championships. Proceeds from the game benefited the HEADstrong Foundation, which at halftime honored local contributors to each town’s program. HEADstrong also donated 100 youth lacrosse sticks to boys and girls in the area as part of the event.
For winning, Ridley gets the first Nick Trophy, dedicated to the honor of one player from each side who fell victim to cancer. Just as Ridley wore Colleluori’s number, Springfield’s players sported the No. 14 worn by 2014 graduate Nick Baratelle.
The history of No. 27 runs deep at Ridley, and its connections testify to how beloved Colleluorii’s legacy is. Bush graduated Ridley in 2012 and originally wore No. 25 at Cabrini while another Ridley grad, Eric Streicher, wore 27. When Streicher left, Bush “kind of finagled my way to getting it from him.”
During last year’s championship season, the number was worn by Ty Moschella, a Garnet Valley graduate who played for the HEADstrong club.
Eufrasio was an AllDelco defenseman in 2013 before matriculating to Marquette. He wore No. 4 in high school and started as No. 22 with the Golden Eagles (where his teammates included Daniel Mojica, in uniform for Springfield Friday). Once 27 opened up, the All-Big East Academic honoree jumped at it.
“This is something dear to us, how many families they help,” Eufrasio said. “It’s truly amazing that wearing that number stands for something bigger than ourselves, going out, playing for Nick Colleluori. When I got to wear the number, it was amazing.”
It’s become a poignant symbol in the lacrosse world, thanks to the national reach of HEADstrong’s work. Eufrasio’s journey connects some of the dots: He was recruited to Marquette by Joe Amplo, who was an assistant to John Danowski at Hofstra when Colleluori signed with the Flying Dutchmen. When Eufrasio was in school, he participated in an annual game to benefit HEADstrong between Marquette and Danowski’s current employer, Duke.
As Ridley and HEADstrong players spread across the nation, the work done in Colleluori’s memory is transmitted with them.
“I think it doesn’t just extend to Ridley guys anymore,” Eufrasio said. “I think it extends to the entire community that HEADstrong touches, with the lacrosse organization and the foundation. We have guys all over the place, just like Springfield, we played with a lot of guys at HEADstrong. They go to college and they want to wear No. 27 for what it means. Just learning about the organization and playing for it and growing up where we grow up, this is something that the whole community wants to be involved in.”
It was only appropriate that Springfield’s first goal came from someone used to wearing No. 14: Steve Halko. One of the late Baratelle’s closest friends, Halko was given No. 14 when he started what would become an allleague career at Cabrini as a long-stick midfielder. When Baratelle was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer 18 months later, a battle that ended last July, the 14 took on a new significance for Halko.
Friday with a short stick in hand, he buried the first goal of the game to give Springfield a short-lived lead.
“Getting the first goal seemed like just riding a bike at first,” Halko said. “But when I got to the sidelines, I looked up and saw my family and Nacho’s family and just smiled cheek to cheek. It was a surreal moment that I hope becomes part of the strong history of Ridley and Springfield.”
Friday’s format featured four 20-minute quarters, with players under the age of 35 and the over-35 set getting exclusive time to match-up before an openfor-all fourth quarter.
The result was a tantalizing mix of generations. Springfield assembled a forward line of Lucas Spence, Kyle Long and Mike Gerzabek, a greatest hits of the generation that yielded two PIAA and two District
1 titles. It reunited national teamers like Greg Gurenlian (a 2002 All-Delco) and Kyle Sweeney (1999 AllDelco) in Springfield colors.
Ridley remixed its three state championship rosters of the 1990s, with stellar short sticks like Andrew Cleghorn and Jason Kilpatrick (both of whom scored) playing in front of goalie Matt Murray and a defense marshaled by Marc Schaffer.
The star of the game was Lou Harrison, a 2013 Ridley/2018 Ursinus grad. The big man scored four goals, including a stellar dodge as the horn sounded on the third quarter to put Ridley in charge, 11-5.
Bush and Nick Fox scored twice for Ridley. Tommy McDermott made three saves in the first quarter, and Frankie McCarthy added three in the fourth.
Spence led Springfield with a hat trick. Sweeney and Gurenlian scored Springfield’s goals in the
over-35 quarter. Regardless of the score, players on both sides left with the hope that Friday’s event would become an annual occurrence.
“I think it’s great that it happened,” Bush said. “I know it’s been on the radar for a while. But I think it’s going to grow from here, get some attention and it’s going to get really big, be a great tradition. … It was competitive. It was a rivalry. We played hard, so it was just good getting out there with some old guys that you grew up playing with, so it was fun.”