Interview with Keith Wieczorek, Head Coach of St. Anthony’s Lacrosse Program. Mr. Wieczorek has been coaching at the school since 1991, both football and lacrosse. This is his 10th season as varsity boys lacrosse coach. He graduated from St. Anthony’s in 1986. His two brothers also graduated from the school, one in 1979 and another in 1981.
1) From an alumni’s perspective, how much does this rivalry mean to you?
Wieczorek: It’s a huge rivalry. In the early ‘80s into the middle ‘80s, it was already a rivalry, but I think it took on a life of its own over the last 10 years, even more so than when I was here. During that time, the league was so strong top-to-bottom that other teams intermittently competed for the title there. I think it’s gotten a life of its own in lacrosse. I don’t know how many years we’ve been in the championship game with each other. I know in my 10 years and previous to that, well actually, one of my years we played against Holy Trinity in the final but nine other years was against Chaminade and previous to that most of them were Chaminade-St. Anthony games with the exception of I think Trinity in ’86. They knocked us off. It’s been a sustained rivalry now. It’s taken on a life of its own since I’m coaching more so than I was an alumni.
2) From the coaching perspective, how would you see this?
Wieczorek: I think it’s two programs and two schools that, if you look at them, are very, very similar to each other, to make up for their student body, with the exception of us having half a female population. I think it’s the same type of kid. I think it’s the same type of athlete, and the same type of lacrosse program. All our kids from both programs go on to play at great colleges, whether it be an academy, an Ivy League, or a strong Division III school. We have almost every one of my seniors and all of [Chaminade head lacrosse] Coach [Jack] Moran’s seniors over the last several years have gone on to play in college. Whether it’d be the college playoff weekend or on a Sunday morning looking at the box scores from college in the previous week, you can see a number of Chaminade and St. Anthony’s players peppered all over Division I, Division III, and some, even now, Division II rosters. It’s pretty neat to watch two schools so similar compete. When we get on the field I think no matter what team is having the better season or not, I think it’s always a battle of wills and each team brings out the best in the other.
3) Since this rivalry takes on a life of its own, especially in lacrosse, how much does this mean to your players?
Wieczorek: It means a lot. You always try to not to make more of one game than another, because especially since over the last several years we’ve played three [games] with them every year and it’s very difficult to play the same team three times. But it means a lot to them, they know. When we line up before a St. Anthony’s-Chaminade game, there’s a different look in their eye and they definitely have a different feel about them. It is that kind of rivalry where it brings out the best in both of us. They’ve had our number the last three years in the finals, but those games during the regular season were decided by a goal or two in all those years, even though in the final we came up short the last three times. Previous to that we had a pretty good success in the finals. I think we won four out of five previous to losing the last three, so it’s been back-and-forth the whole time. It definitely brings out the best in the kids. The kids are definitely excited about the game, and you got alumni and family of past players that have a buzz about the game. It’s one of those games that get circled early in the year by a lot of people that are no longer involved in the program, but are still aware of it. I get emails and phone calls about the game before and after.
4) In terms of coaching, is preparing for your biggest rivals in Chaminade any different than preparing for all of the other teams that you face? If so, what’s the preparation like in this case?
Wieczorek: I think the biggest difference would be the familiarity. I think coaching staffs know each other very well by now. I think we know what they like to do; they know what we like to do. There is a familiarity with the preparation, so you try to think from their perspective as you’re going into a game the things they’re going to try to do against us that we’ve seen them do over the last 10-12 years when we had different personnel. They’re a very gifted coaching staff over there; they match up very well as far as what kind of talent they have year in and year out to what we have. So, preparation-wise, you definitely do your homework. You try to scout them two or three times before you play. We try to see them against other opponents. You look at last year’s film. I wouldn’t say you prepare more, but there’s more of a familiarity or a sense of what you think the other is going to do leading up to that game.
5) Going back to the seniors on your team and Coach Moran’s team, you said that they went on to colleges with strong lacrosse programs. Have you ever recalled anyone that’s been in the professional ranks?
Wieczorek: I know Coach Moran’s son, Ryan, is still involved with one of the professional leagues. We have a kid that graduated in ’90 or ’91, Brian Langtry, who’s probably one of the best offensive players in the outdoor league still. Joe Yevoli played for several years since he’s out of college; he’s a St. Anthony’s kid. There’s a host of them out there, I’m not sure who in particular. I think Langtry’s still current. I think Ryan Moran’s still current. I think Peter Trombino from here plays. There are definitely some players out there that are still involved in those programs.
6) In your years, both as a student and as a coach, what would say are the games between these two teams that jump out to you as the most memorable you’ve seen?
Wieczorek: Previous to me, there was one six-overtime game at Denton Avenue in the early to mid-‘90s. I’m not sure if I was on the varsity or JV staff at the time. I think St. Anthony’s won in a six or eight overtime game. It was insane. I think just looking at the game scores over the last 10 years, the amount of one or two-goal games stand out. I think my first year we won a 5-4 or 4-3 championship game. Obviously that one sticks out because it was my first championship. We won a thriller over there last year 6-5, lost in overtime here 7-6, just this previous week it was another 7-6 game. That’s three out of the last four times we’ve played in one-goal games. I’m sure if I thought about it a little more or looked at scorebooks, I think some memories would be jogged on that. But as an assistant, I think I remember that multi-overtime game. As a coach, that first championship I won would probably stick out.
7) In speaking with Mr. Buckley and Coach Basel over in Chaminade, it seems as if respect is the central theme of the Chaminade-St. Anthony’s rivalry. They have a lot of respect for each other and there is no bad blood or any hard feelings between the teams. What can you attest about the theme of respect?
Wieczorek: There’s a ton of respect. I spoke to Coach Moran and one of his assistants either the day of or the day after our games. We always call, winner or loser calls, just to congratulate on the effort and go from there. I think we preach the same type of game sportsmanship and everything to our kids in both spots. A lot of these kids now play in summer programs together and summer leagues and some are on club teams. These kids also are friendly outside of our confines as far as lacrosse. I know in football now, a lot of these kids do tend to see each other off-season. There’s a healthy respect there. I think you want to beat each other’s brains in on the field, but I think there is a respect at the end of it where you tip the hat to the other team because they’re doing it the right way as well. Just leave it all out on the field. I think when they’re playing a non-league opponent, we root for them. When we’re playing a big non-league opponent, they root for us. I think we all want what’s best for the league. When we’re not playing each other, we root for the other team.
8) I read about, on insidelacrosse.com, that this rivalry was ranked the third best rivalry in the nation. What can you say about the national attention the rivalry has gotten?
Wieczorek: I think that’s something over the last 8-10 years that’s gotten even more with the Internet lacrosse age booming. I think there’s more attention to stats and numbers now. It’s neat. Whenever you’re mentioned in the same breath as Delbarton-Mountain Lakes or Garden City-Manhasset or whatever those other rivalries are, I think it’s pretty neat for the programs. I think it definitely shows when you look at the numbers over the long term. Like I’ve said before, the amount of kids and parents and alums that are two, four, five, 10, 15 years removed from it, but still circle that game on the calendar is a testament to just how true the rivalry is. I’d put it up against any. I can’t imagine any being more closely fought and competitive over that length of time. I think it’s pretty impressive when you look at the numbers.
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