HISTORY OF ST. JOE'S LACROSSE
With increased student interest in the school and increasing popularity of Lacrosse in the area, St. Joe’s Lacrosse had its first season the spring of 1998. The team was led by Coach Franz. The team played in what was called the WNY Lacrosse. In 2000 the team was taken over by the Independent League, in which they played the Catholic schools of St. Francis, Timon/St. Jude and Canisius twice, and Grand Island, Medina, Nichols, Silver Creek, and Niagara Wheatfield once. In the Year 2000 they finished 4-6 with two of the wins coming against Timon/St. Jude (14-5 and 13-8).
In the year 2001, the team was coached by Peter Hudecki. That year the team joined the WNY Lacrosse League, which combined Catholic schools such as Timon/St. Jude, St Francis, Canisius, and St. Joe’s together with Section VI schools that included Grand Island, Salamanca, Niagara Wheatfield, Gowanda, Akron, Silver Creek, Medina, and East Aurora High Schools. During this time the Catholic schools would have their own Championships, since they were not permitted to participate in the sectional playoffs. While in this league, the program went through many great strides, as well as speed bumps along the way. One of the great strides included the addition of Rich Jacob to the coaching staff for the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
Jacob helped build the program by bringing in experienced and dedicated coaching staff, as well as bringing his own coaching ability. Jacob was also responsible for bringing in one of the greatest additions to St. Joe’s lacrosse, Cyril Printup. Cyril is the head coach of the JV and brings decades of lacrosse coaching experience and tradition. In 2004, the team started a tradition of going to Morgantown, West Virginia to play two high school teams, one of which Coach Hudecki formally coached, University High and the rival Morgantown High School.
In the year 2005, the Catholic schools formed their own league called the Monsignor Martin Lacrosse League. This new setup had each Catholic school playing each other twice (one home and one away), as well as ten out-of-league games. In 2005 the varsity team reached many milestones. They defeated Nichols and St. Francis for the first time in many years, as well as defeating long-time rival Canisius. The St. Joe’s team also achieved the milestone of making the private-school playoffs.
