Lacrosse roots run deep in state
“Usually, it’s about hot spots like Long Island, Upstate New York, Maryland. But Connecticut is definitely emerging. It’s important for my age group when we’re older to go back and keep the trend going. Connecticut, up and coming.” Merrimack leading scorer Sean Black, who is from Cheshire
PHILADELPHIA — One is the son of the Wesleyan wrestling coach. The other, who’ll be a major concern for Yale on Monday in the Division I national championship, is the son of a twotime lacrosse All-American at Virginia.
Merrimack’s leading scorer Sean Black, a son of Cheshire, has back-to-back NCAA Division II titles now and he finds himself in a spot he didn’t know he’d be when he committed to the school in 2017. With its resounding 16-8 national championship victory over Limestone on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, the Warriors move up to Division I next year.
There, Black, a sophomore who Sunday amassed two goals and three assists, will find Michael Kraus, a son of New Canaan, and any number of terrific Connecticut players filling the elite lacrosse fields of America. Many know each other. Some do not.
Black did not know the opposing goalkeeper who stood only a few feet away from him on this afternoon. Limestone’s Danny Foren played at Trumbull High before heading south to a small South Carolina college. South, north, east, west, Connecticut spreads its lacrosse tentacles like few states in the union.
“Usually, it’s about hot spots like Long Island, Upstate New York, Maryland,” Black said. “But Connecticut is definitely emerging. It’s important for my age group when we’re older to go back and keep the trend going. Connecticut, up and coming.”
Actually, Connecticut, up and there.
Take one look, for instance, at the Virginia roster. There are five state players and three, including
Kraus, from New Canaan.
Connecticut lacrosse stories abound. Some stories, like Yale’s in Division I and Wesleyan’s in Division III, ended in 2018 national titles. Others end in heartache. The stories keep churning.
And no roots run deeper than the story of Michael Kraus. His dad Steve was a two-time All-American at Virginia. His uncle Andy was a three-time All-America there.
“Michael is one of the most competitive people I’ve ever come across,” said New Canaan High coach Chip Buzzeo, co-captain of 2001 national champion Princeton. “He has been dreaming of this moment ever since he was a little kid. I first met him when I coached him in the seventh and eighth grade. I had him as varsity coach 10th through 12th. He always talked about some day playing for the national championship.”
That day is here. Although, good grief, it wasn’t easy. Virginia was down four goals in the third quarter, three in the fourth and two in the last minute of regulation Saturday against Duke when Kraus struck with 45.9 second left to make it 12-11. Ian Laviano tied it with 14.4 left and that’s when Kraus had two glorious close-range chances. One in the final seconds of regulation. Another in the final seconds of overtime. He missed both. Laviano, however, scored in double overtime.
“Every postgame we meet as a team for five or six minutes,” Virginia coach Lars Tiffany said. “What didn’t go well, what we need to work on, and what went well. I’m fortunate I have men who are pointing thumbs inwards … (On Saturday), I’ve got Michael Kraus saying we didn’t finish out plays when we should have finished and he’s pointing to himself.
“What I like about that process is a chance to air it out and get rid of it and move on. Michael you could tell it bothered him, but I think he’s moved on. He’s fortunate to have another opportunity here to make those plays.”
Virginia basketball. Virginia lacrosse. Comebacks abound in Charlottesville in
2019. It’s scary. In the national quarterfinals, Virginia was down by five with
10:38 left and won in overtime when Kraus set up Matt Moore.
“That Virginia team, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Buzzeo said. “They have been down so many times throughout the year. They come back almost every single game almost now. In talking to Michael, I know they care a lot about each other. They believe they can win every game.”
Was Kraus, one of the 25 Tewaaraton Award nominees as the nation’s outstanding player, born to play at Virginia?
“He had always wanted to go there,” Steve Kraus said. “But it came down to between Virginia and Cornell. We all said, ‘Well, what’s your favorite school if you ever got hurt and couldn’t play lacrosse?’”
Michael’s answer: Virginia.
“He decided to do the post-graduate year (at Taft), that’s what Virginia wanted him to do,” Buzzeo said. “It sure looks like the right decision now. He has had a phenomenal career.”
“I think Michael has developed another aspect to his game where he is a triple threat attackman,” Steve Kraus said. “He can dodge really well. He can score, a great Canadian lefty finisher. And he’s a great feeder.”
That’s what Kraus, second on Virginia in scoring, was against Duke in the national semifinals. Facing a double-team, he finished with four assists to go with that last-minute goal in regulation.
“We put a lot of pressure on Michael,” Tiffany said. “He’s a captain as a third year. Very few people get that experience. It’s difficult to lead older people, the older men in your program, to be looked upon for your voice, to be a tougher decision maker, to speak truth to power. Michael also typically draws the best defender. We put a lot on his shoulders.”
It’s OK. Connecticut’s lacrosse shoulders are broad. Even the ones of a 5-7, 160-pound guy like Sean Black.
“It’s crazy, I never even imagined I’d get one national championship,” Black said. “We were a six-seed this year. We had the mentality
we’d claw through anyone in our way. Once we got here all the pressure was off.”
Merrimack moves into the D-I NEC now. The good news is the Big Three on attack, Charlie Bertrand, Black and Christian Thomas all return.
“We’re very excited about the switch,” Black said.
Black was a soccer, wrestling and lacrosse star at Cheshire. His dad Drew wrestled at Syracuse and has been the coach at Wesleyan for more than two decades. When it came time for college, Sean was looking for a small school with a great lacrosse program. He immediately was drawn to coach Mike Morgan.
“It’s funny, seventh grade I did my first lacrosse camp,” Black said. “I had played baseball, but after that I was like, ‘I’m never going back. Lacrosse is way more fun.’ I love lacrosse so much. Now I’m a champion.
“I ran up to the stands afterward. Gave my dad a high five. Told him I loved him. It was so great.”
Black, the wrestler, knew Yale’s peerless faceoff man T.D. Ierlan once was a wrestler. So did Steve Kraus, one of the nation’s premier faceoff artists when he played in the 80s. Of course, they did. This is Connecticut. Connecticut knows the major lacrosse story lines and Ierlan is threatening to be the story of championship weekend.
“I think our guy, Petey LaSalla, is going to surprise people, he’s only a freshman and he has gotten better every game,” Steve Kraus said. “He’s clearly billed as the underdog, but I think it’s going to be a closer match than people realize.
“T.D. and Petey, same with myself and my brother, the perfect size is 5-10ish, stocky, kind of quick on your feet, basically like the middle linebacker in the old days in football when there was more running. You kind of crouch down, hop around and explode. That’s where wrestling helps. Low center of gravity is big. Quick wrists. And then be able to read the opponent. If you have only one move you’re not going to win as many as T.D. He has a lot of moves.”