Sam Herle on OP Lacrosse: We’re back, baby!

Humans have this atavistic tendency to think far ahead into the future. It is most evident in this season compared to any other: something about Christmas just seems to get the brain going. Wreaths and lights quickly overtake the spots of pumpkins and mummies. Mariah Carey makes her way onto the radio before Thanksgiving dinner is served. Santa is sent lists weeks before the first snowfall. And for those who don’t think ahead, good luck getting all those packages on time.

In the case of Sam Herle, attackman and Alfred University commit, his thoughts seemed to have settled in on the upcoming lacrosse season, a season which doesn’t start for another four months. Last week, he and some other guys began to get together and “play at an indoor facility, working on passing, shooting, dodging…you know, these little skills that can give us an edge.” Herle predicts that “Hamburg and Canandaigua are working hard, and so we just gotta work harder.”

Anyone who goes to Orchard Park, teacher or student, has probably heard Herle talk about it at some point in time. He lives, breaths, and dies for the sport. Sometime early last season, he fractured his foot and sprained a Lisfranc ligament, but he continued to play through it. It wasn’t until after the season that he went to his doctor, who condemned him to a walking boot for a little over a month. Orchard Park is far too familiar with gritty players, players like Sully O’Brien, All-American defenseman and NJIT commit, who regularly played with a sprained ACL and torn ligaments in his shoulders. 

Last year, the teamwent 7-1 intraleague, good enough to place them second in Class B. Games played outside of the league told a different story though, as they only managed to scrape together a record of 2-6. They dropped five of the final seven games, something which Herle and the rest of the team seeks not to repeat: “We’ve got a chip on our shoulders this year,” he explains. “We want to go out there and prove that we got that dog in us.” Quaker Lacrosse plays their first game on March 28th. 

I sat down with Sam Herle to hear more of his thoughts on the 2023 season.

How do you think the varsity lacrosse team will do this season?

I think we’re going to do pretty well. Got a lot of guys returning. A lot of threats on offense, as well as a solid defense anchored by Sully O’Brien and Jack Lucidi in net. You know both those guys are going to play lacrosse at college at a high level.

Do you know how many guys are going to be playing lacrosse in college?

As of right now, there are six committed, but I know there’s definitely a few more that could play at the next level if they chose. Right now though, I know we got [O’Brien] going Division I, [Jack] Lucidi our goaltender going Division II. I know [Frank] Neeson is going somewhere… I think Zach [Watson] might be going somewhere, too. I know I’m missing guys right now, but I’m positive we’ve got at least six college level players on the team currently.

I heard you mention something before about going 24-0 with this group. Was I hearing things wrong, or has this team played and dominated before?

Yeah, so when I was a seventh grader, our team went 12-0. The following year, we went 12-0 again, and that was with the same group of juniors and seniors that we’re playing with now. I know middle school was a long time ago, but it has to mean something, right? 24-0 is a pretty big deal, regardless of the level which you play at. So as far as locally, in Section 6, I think we are going to fare well.

What about playing outside the section?

I mean, that’s definitely going to be more of a challenge, but we have the right personnel to win. It’s important to get into the game that we want to play, be able to slow the pace down and play at our speed. It honestly comes down to possession. We just need to possess the ball better than the other team. We have the guys to score the goals and the defense to back them up. It’s really competitive outside of our section, so we’ll see.

There’s a lot of good players on this team. Who is the most underrated, in your opinion?

I’m going to go with Michael Pietrantoni. He struggled a little bit last year. I know he would agree with that statement. But he’s got a lot of talent. Fast. Big. Pretty good shot. Good understanding of the game. Passing. Field vision. You know, all that good stuff. I could see him being a huge, huge contributor, especially if teams don’t respect him and neglect to put a good defender on him. He’ll blow by those weaker defenders and bury some nice goals.

What’s the biggest liability for the team this year?

Transition. You know, coming between offense and defense. In settled play we’re going to be a good team, no doubt. But keeping pace with some of the other athletic teams is important. We need to control possession when we have it…maybe steal a goal here and there. Playing well in transition would really help us, especially against good competition.

Do you ever watch professional lacrosse to add skills to your game?

I’ll watch Connor Shellenberger from the University of Virginia. I think he’s a junior this year, but ever since his freshman year his field vision has been off the charts. He shares the ball and is always a threat to score. Really good offensive facilitator.

Alright, final question. Bar fight, which three guys do you want by your side?

Myself and three others? I’ll go Tommy Summers, Chris Berdysiak, and Jack Lucidi. Roll with my dogs. Big boys, tough guys. I like our squad.