By Jim Stout
MaxPreps.com
Not all rebuilding projects are created equally.
For most elite boys lacrosse programs in the FCIAC, teams simply reload when graduation hits. There is seldom, if ever, a shortage of up-and-coming stars at suburban schools such as Darien, New Canaan, Greenwich, Wilton and Ridgefield. Players are generally set to perform the minute they step into high school.
So how does Brien McMahon High of Norwalk do it?
The Senators have neither the large feeder system needed to restore their talent base on an annual basis, nor the decades of success that many of the other conference schools enjoy and count on. They are an urban-based school with an ethic and cultural diversity that is normally not associated with lacrosse success in the Northeast.
Lacrosse can be an expensive sport to play and many of McMahon's student-athletes come from modest financial backgrounds.
Still, McMahon stands as one of the top teams in the best lacrosse conference in Connecticut. The Senators are 10-2 to date this season and have already knocked off both New Canaan and Wilton. They reached the state Class M semifinals a year ago and lost in the state final in 2005 to Darien.
In 2000, the fifth year of coach Mike Epstein's reclamation project at McMahon, the Senators won the state Division II title with a victory in the final against Guilford and have qualified for every tournament since then.
The 2007 season is no different. It's just the way in which Epstein builds his teams that is different than everyone else, the possible exception being City rival Norwalk High, where Epstein was once an All-American player and assistant coach.
"Probably half of our kids have never played lacrosse before they reach us at the high school in the ninth grade," Epstein said.
"There are a lot of factors for that at a school like McMahon, financial and societal being chief among them. Every once in a while we get a group that has played junior lacrosse before and that can be a big help, but for the most part we have to develop our own lacrosse talent once the kids get here."
While there may be a shortage of career lacrosse players at McMahon, there is no shortage of stellar athletes. This is a factor that Epstein banks on heavily. Not everyone can pick up the sport overnight but student-athletes have a much better chance of becoming high-functioning lacrosse coverts if they can bring athleticism to the field.
Borrowing upon that concept is the way Epstein first energized a stagnant program at McMahon a decade ago.
"To get the team going at first (in 1996), I went to the weight room at school and found the halfbacks on the football team," Epstein recalled. "Dwayne Coles was part of that team and he became a defensive player-of-the-year and a great faceoff guy at Eastern Connecticut State."
Coles still has the second-highest faceoff winning percentage in Eastern history, 62.3 percent.
Junior Brian Vincent, who has scored 41 goals and added 18 assists in 12 games, paces McMahon on attack. Craig Breden and David Raleigh have both scored over 20 goals, with Raleigh's 30 assists topping all scorers on the team, ranking fourth in the state.
All of this has happened despite the graduation of 16 seniors following a 16-4 campaign in 2006.
Dating back to the beginning of the 2004 season, McMahon has compiled an overall record of 53-20.
"We ask a lot out of our kids because we have so much work and catching up to do," said Epstein, who played lacrosse after Norwalk High at the University of Vermont.
"But they give us a lot and that's a credit to them, and we give them a lot in return. That's how it works. They give us everything they have during the season. It's very much of a family thing. To make up for the lack of experience in many cases, we have to do a lot of off-season work. The kids are sometimes over at my house. It's an intense four years if you play lacrosse at McMahon.
"I'd like to take credit for what goes on," he added, "but it's the hard work that the kids do that gets the job done for us. Without that, all the coaching in the world means nothing. You get out of it what you put into it, and these kids put in a lot. It pays off the long run."
Though McMahon lost handily to three-time defending champ Darien April 18, it had opened the season with an 8-7 victory over New Canaan.
"I'm not really sure how we did that," said Epstein. "It was nice beating them, but we're not fooled by that. It's what you do later in the season that's important, that and how you improve as a team. Half of what we do, anyway, we steal from the New Canaan. Howard (Benedict) is such a great coach. We try to learn everything we can from them."
Epstein isn't fool or deceived, either, by his team's present record.
"Whether you're 10-2, 9-3 or 11-1 at this point doesn't really matter," he said. "You still have to win the last one (the state championship game) if you're going to be truly successful. We don't want to be content with being good under the circumstances. We want to win that final game."
Jim Stout is the MaxPreps.com Master Photographer for the Southern New England area and a Northeast Region columnist. He may be reached at 203-563-2297 or at j.stout@jmstout.org.
