St. Anthony's road to championship: College-like travel schedule

The St. Anthony’s boys lacrosse team never left its comfort zone. Not even against the toughest competition in the country while traveling to multiple states. 

Coach Keith Wieczorek put together a college-like travel schedule, playing 10 games on the road in New York, New Jersey, Washington D.C., Maryland, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. The Friars hosted just three games all season. 

“We had to do that out of necessity,” Wieczorek said. “I couldn’t get any other games that would allow us to stay closer to home. I think that was our biggest obstacle — the strength of our schedule and the amount of traveling we did.”

Despite this, St. Anthony’s only lost one game, finishing 12-1 and capturing the CHSAA Class AAA state championship with a 17-11 win over Chaminade. 

The team featured 25 seniors committed to playing college lacrosse, 19 of whom will be competing at the Division I level. The depth not only allowed fresh, talented players on the field at all times, but it kept healthy in-house competition going.

“The kids tend to push each other,” Wieczorek said. “They can’t rest because there’s someone of equal or close caliber that’s making them work harder and making sure they don’t sit back … We have almost like a college roster. The competitive nature of the kids pushes them to make each other better and thereby makes us better.”

Owen Duffy led the Friars with 43 goals and 35 assists for a whopping six-points-per-game average. Jack Speidell added 31 goals and 15 assists. 

Behind the stacked roster, St. Anthony’s finished No. 3 in the latest Nike/USA Lacrosse high school rankings.

“There’s not one person on the team that wasn’t fully all-in on the team,” Speidell said. “Everyone wanted it and competed at practice every day. I believe this team was one of the closest teams in St. Anthony’s history, and that’s why we were able to have the season we did.”