During the halftime break in Lakeridge boys lacrosse’s 8-4 win over West Linn on Thursday, May 2, a number of future Pacers could be found on a field nearby, passing a lacrosse ball around, each with their own stick.
Empty lacrosse nets littered the field, while the kids — perhaps students at nearby Lakeridge Middle School — fired shots like they were at a driveway basketball hoop.
But instead of shooting hoops, these future Pacers were “ripping cheddar.”
At one point, one boy leaves the group to practice passing and catching off a nearby wall, which was clearly designed and built on Lakeridge’s campus with lacrosse practice at the top of mind.
Like back yard football in Texas or street soccer in Brazil, lacrosse is nearly impossible to miss in south Lake Oswego, thanks in part to the 30-year tenure of current Lakeridge head coach Curt Sheinen.
“I was one of the four founding fathers of this,” Sheinen said. “And I helped get (Lake Oswego) started as well — while I was coaching here — because we used to run a co-op with them, just so they could get enough players.”
Sheinen’s Pacers were one of the first four boys lacrosse programs to begin competition in Oregon in 1994, alongside Oregon Episcopal School, Glencoe and West Linn.
Sheinen credits Kris Van Hatcher, who started the OES program, Bill Rexford, who got things going in Glencoe, and Mark Flood, who led the way in West Linn, as the three other “founding fathers” of high school lacrosse in Oregon.
Since then, the statewide number of teams has ballooned to 42, but programs like Lakeridge’s have had a sizable head start, explaining why lacrosse sticks have become nearly as common as baseball gloves in the Lake Oswego area.
“It’s definitely a huge lacrosse school,” senior Henry Ryan said. “(Assistant coach Frank Obiesie) teaches here, so we’re fortunate enough to have team meetings in the middle of the school day, and lacrosse is definitely a huge cultural thing here and we’re all super involved in that.”
Ryan, who’s been a four-year contributor for the Pacers, is a textbook example of Lakeridge lacrosse’s deep-reaching roots. The current senior grew up around the sport in the Lake Oswego area and consequently envisioned himself lacing up a stick for the Pacers as a high schooler.
“I’ve known I’ve wanted to go to Lakeridge since like fourth grade for lacrosse,” Ryan said. “It’s the main reason I came here.”
The current senior certainly took notice when the Pacers brought home a state title back in 2013, and perhaps later caught wind of their three straight championships from 2005-08.
Unlike many other lacrosse programs across the state, Lakeridge possesses an established history of winning championships, which naturally catches the attention of local sports-crazed youngsters.
As a result, Ryan says this year’s Pacers are particularly close as a group, picking up both lacrosse-centered muscle memory and meaningful connections while playing together over the years.
“This team definitely has some great chemistry compared to some previous teams I’ve been on,” Ryan said. “It just feels like it’s one big family. Everyone loves each other, everyone cares about each other, we all trust each other’s sticks and we trust each other’s decisions. It’s just one big brotherhood and that’s definitely a huge advantage for us.”
Still, while Lakeridge is 15-2 on the season without a loss to an Oregonian team, both Ryan and Sheinen believe there is room for improvement this spring. The Pacers’ championship history calls for lofty expectations.
“I think ball movement on offense is something we really have to work on, because when it’s working, it looks great,” Sheinen said. “We get all these opportunities, but there are times where we get a little stagnant and guys are trying to dodge two or three guys, which doesn’t work.”
“It’s just about getting better every day — taking one step forward every day,” Ryan added. “Today I think we proved that we can play better than we have in the past, so we just need to continue to make those improvements every game.”
The Pacers will be in action again on Friday, May 10, as they host Lake Oswego/Riverdale in a key Three Rivers League matchup. Lakeridge won the first game between the two teams 12-8 on April 12.
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