Go Big Red

By BRANDON GOULD • NJ ADVANCE MEDIA

STICKING TO WHAT WORKS

The nationally ranked boys’ lacrosse team is thriving again under new head coach Jon Posner.

The standard at Lawrenceville has been high the last few decades, but with a new coaching staff in this past spring, the School is ready to take that bar to a new level with the expectation of being one of the elite boys’ lacrosse programs in the country.

That became abundantly clear once the 2021 season started on April 3.

Jon Posner was hired to take over Big

Red in May 2020, coming to Lawrenceville after building a national power at Culver

Academy in Indiana, where he went 280-55.

His teams finished inside the Top 10 in the

Under Armour/Inside Lacrosse National

High School Power Rankings six times in the last seven years.

His 2019 squad finished No. 1 in the country.

The veteran coach inherited a good team at Lawrenceville, but the wealth of talent has become even deeper with a handful of top players following Posner from Culver. Those additions give Big Red a roster that is packed with Division I commits and it’s been tough

fundamentals and skills development. Big Red battled powerful Malvern Prep in the GEICO High School Lacrosse Showcase, televised nationally on ESPNU, in April.

for teams to match that firepower.

“We could definitely tell from the first practice that it was a change of culture,” said Colgate commit William Upchurch ’21, who had 25 goals and 27 assists for Lawrenceville as a sophomore in 2019. “We have been getting better every single day and pushing each other to be the best team possible. You can see how much this team has changed, not only by the offseason, but also through every game we’ve played.”

On May 13, Lawrenceville didn’t have its best game, starting slowly and leading only 3-1 at halftime against Hun. Once the shots started to connect though, Big Red took off and could not be stopped on its way to a 15-2 win. That victory improved the team’s overall record 8-3, on its way to a 13-3 finish that included the Mid-Atlantic Prep League title. Against New Jersey competition, Lawrenceville was perfect, including wins over Christian Brothers Academy and St. Augustine.

Lawrenceville played its way into the national Top 25 by Inside Lacrosse, and it’s not hard to see why. With so much talent on this team, Big Red made a case that it is the best team in New Jersey.

“Regardless of where you’re committed, it’s all about effort,” said Yale-bound Drew Friedman ’21, who is another star player that was a young leader for the Big Red in 2019. “You can always control your attitude and your effort. That’s something Coach Posner has always told us, and that’s something we live by.”

In addition to the returning players from that 2019 team, Lawrenceville also leaned on a handful of transfers who came from Culver to play for Posner again. That collection of talent includes Brooks English ’22, who has already committed to play at Brown, Lucas Osborne ’22 – a five-star midfield prospect pledged to Yale.

English’s brother, Sammy, plays at Princeton University and was one of nine Culver players honored as Under Armour All-Americans during Posner’s time at the northern Indiana military school.

Hunter Chauvette ’23 is another name to know. He also followed Posner to Lawrenceville, and once Chauvette starts collecting college offers, he’ll be hearing from some of the best college programs in the country. He showed why against Hun, displaying his skill set and ripping in five goals.

The development of returning players, in addition to the influx of talented transfers since the end of 2019, has the lacrosse program poised for big things.

“As you can tell, it means a world of difference,” Upchurch said. “To get the chemistry together really makes every play work. We work the ball around as quick as possible and as efficiently as possible.”

Liam Sargent ’21, who is off to play at Lafayette, Jack Scoma ’21 (Lehigh), Jack Reichert ’21 (University of Utah), Henry Murray ’21 (Tufts), and Tyler Mininno ’22 (verbally committed to Harvard) are just a few of the other college-bound players who powered this Lawrenceville team. Read the lineup up and down, and it looks like a Division-I roster.

Not every game was perfect, but Lawrenceville has definitely bought in.

Big Red dropped a game against Brunswick School of Connecticut at home but then went on the road and won the rematch, 7-6. That’s just one of the signs of growth for this squad, whose only other losses have come against Haverford School and Malvern Prep – which rose as high as No. 5 in the nation this season.

“This is a blessing. Last year was supposed to be my first varsity season, and it hurt when that got taken away, but to come back into something like this is better than anything I could have hoped for,” Murray said of the 2020 season being lost to COVID-19 restrictions. “It’s a whole new culture, a whole new team, and a different level of competitiveness. It’s great.”

While this year’s senior class had headliners in it, Lawrenceville also has a lot of young talent. With Posner at the helm, there are only going to be more stars coming in the future. This is just the start.

This year has been great so far, but the future has a chance to be truly special at Lawrenceville.

“Things are just going to get better and better from here,” Friedman said. “This is probably the best coaching staff in the country. Our team is always improving and always getting better, and I think that’s just going to continue at Lawrenceville.”

In his first season on the sidelines, head coach Jon Posner reestablished Lawrenceville as the state’s premier boys’ lacrosse team.

— Brandon Gould writes for NJ Advance Media. A version of this story appeared on NJ.com on May 13