Top-ranked Haverford School handles No. 2 Darien in lacrosse showdown

HAVERFORD, Pa. - The looks usually come in stealthy, sideways manners among the seniors each time Haverford School (Pa.) boys' lacrosse coach John Nostrant delivers his pre-game speech prior to the Fords' annual Checking for Cancer game. Nostrant tells his team all the things a coach of a national-caliber program is expected to say.

His team usually listens intently and absorbs. Except for one thing - the part where Nostrant tells them this game, usually against another national-caliber program, is about them - not him. His players nod collectively, then regain eye contact with one another, because it's one of the rare moments they won't listen to their coach. It's the rare time it is about their coach.

It's why Saturday's dominating 11-5 victory over Darien (Conn.) carried such impact. Played under a steady, torrential rain, the Fords, considered the best team in the nation, accomplished a few things in the victory over No. 2 Darien: They re-established their status as the best boys' lacrosse team in the country, and they won for their coach, who survived prostate cancer and was originally diagnosed in 2007 when these seniors were freshmen.

"We would die for coach Nostrant, and we know he would die for us," said Haverford School senior Joe McCallion, who had an incredible day going 15-for-15 in faceoffs and is headed to Penn, one of 18 Fords going to a Division I school to play lacrosse. "We know what coach Nostrant does and the time commitment he puts into this program. All of coaches do here. You could find coach Nostrant at 7 in the morning before school helping us with our shooting. He's that committed. We have a great appreciation for him. You know with him, if you put in the effort, you're going to win."

Then McCallion stopped for a second … "we know what coach Nostrant has been through, especially the seniors because we were freshmen then when we heard about the cancer and we didn't know whether or not we would have him. We were really scared we'd lose him. It's why games like this are important."

It's one of those special reasons why No. 1 vs. No. 2 doesn't mean all that much. The seniors just wanted to give Nostrant a parting gift in the Third Annual Checking for Cancer Tournament.

Darien just happened to be in the way.

If any team was thought to topple 11-0 Haverford School, it was the Blue Wave. Darien had outscored its previous four opponents 66-19, and was averaging 16.5 goals a game. The last time the Blue Wave was held to five goals or less came in 2009. Haverford School, meanwhile, plays a rugged nonleague schedule, on top of playing in the tough Inter-Academic League, made up of prestigious private schools in and around Philadelphia. The Fords were a little shaky in getting past league rival Episcopal Academy on Friday, starting out to a 5-0 lead, before the Churchmen scrambled back to close within 5-3.

But there has always been an added gear to the Fords this season, an extra thrust that no opponent has been able to stifle nor answer when it gets going, and that was the case in the horrid conditions on Saturday. The Fords took a 4-3 halftime lead then bolted out to a 7-3 advantage, thanks to goals from Zach Rego (Georgetown commit), McCallion, and sophomore Gavin McBride.

Defensively, the Fords put the clamps on Darien's dangerous Case Matheis, a tiny thunderball with explosive speed and amazing cutting ability who put Darien up 3-2 in the second quarter with a great, leaping goal. The Duke commit had a tough time dealing with the constant marking of Fords' senior Goran Murray, a Maryland commit who played an outstanding game.

The 6-foot, 180-pound Murray managed to keep the darting 5-7, 150-pound Matheis in front of him most of the afternoon, and the times Matheis looked like he'd get by his larger foe, Murray bodied him up, sometimes sending him sprawling on the slick, wet turf.

"I don't want it to be about me, because it's not about me," Nostrant stressed. "I have a great group of kids, and they're great, because they have great parents. It's why before this game I told them I wanted them to play for themselves, not for me. I'm a firm believer in meditation and prayer, and my message to my players is always the same: It's more than just a game, it's about being a better person. This game is always emotional for me, but it's emotional for me because winning a game this like means so much to these kids."