Mt. Hebron senior attacker Rich Tangires has been an extension of the coaching staff on the field for the Vikings throughout the season.
Ahead of the Vikings facing off against Severna Park in a rematch of last year’s Class 3A state championship game, Tangires spoke with the Howard County Times to discuss the rematch and reflect on his four-year career at Mt. Hebron. (Editor’s note: Some questions and answers have been lightly edited for clarity):
What are you looking forward to most about the rematch with Severna Park?
I saw my phone today and I’m pretty sure the game was played a year ago today. I got a bunch of texts this morning from teammates last year, the past couple of years and coaches. I’m just excited. It’s been a long journey, a long four years, short in some ways. I’m just excited for it all to come to an end in a very poetic fashion. That’s the thing I’m most excited for.
What was it like waking up to those texts from former teammates?
So many of my friends, their seasons have come to an end in very sad ways. They never knew when their last game was going to be, but I have the opportunity to wake up and go through my day knowing tonight’s the last one. I think that’s a privilege that a lot of people may take for granted. I’m just very excited. Hearing from them a lot of the texts said, ‘Remember what we felt last year and remember how they reacted when they won and how we reacted when we lost.’ I think we’re just excited to right those wrongs tonight and I think we’re ready.
What do you think the emotions will be when you step on the field at the state championship?
Usually, it’s pretty nerve-wracking. I’ve had a lot of big games in my career and usually, I drop the first pass in the game for some reason, so usually after that happens, we’re pretty good to go. I think it’s pretty freeing knowing that it’s your last game and being able to say, ‘Hey this is it.’ You can give it however much you want, lay out for everything and it’s freeing in a way to just know that no matter what happens this is it, so you can give it your all.
When you reflect back on your four years at Mt. Hebron what are you most proud of?
I’ve been so lucky, I’ve played with so many talented teammates. We’ve had so many Division I commits, specifically offensive players like Garrett Snyder, Mateo Brown, Cameron Stockenberg, all of the midfielders, Gavin Fleck, Nick Machiran and Gianni Karam, all of them from last year. They’ve all shaped me in different ways. I was texting my coach last night how it was just yesterday I was a freshman and Mateo and Garrett were screaming at me because they were throwing no-look cross-field passes and I just had no chance of catching them.
They just brought the best out of me and now coming full circle, being one of the only seniors on the team this year and seeing people like Keegan Ryan and Maverick Smith step up into leadership roles, it’s a beautiful thing being a part of a community like this and watching everything come full circle because the journey did go by pretty fast with the pandemic cutting two of our seasons pretty short. The different types of people and being surrounded by the coaches and players that’s what I’m most fond of when I look back.
How would you describe your leadership style?
I’m usually the connection between the coaches and the players. Whenever they need to get something out of our coach, they usually just come straight to me. As far as giving motivational speeches and things like that, I usually try to take a backseat. My motivation, my leadership I try to be selective with it and try to pick the right moments rather than every single moment. I think a voice can become stagnant and it’s hard to listen to the same things over and over when it’s the same person saying the same thing. I’ve been lucky enough, Maverick Smith, Zach Goodwin and Aiden Hauf have all stepped into massive leadership roles, so they take that burden off my shoulders and I’m able to be a safe space for any of the teammates to come to. I’m very lucky, a lot of people have stepped up.
What stands out and what did you learn from the regular-season game against Severna Park?
Going into the third quarter, I believe we cut the deficit to 7-5. I think the biggest takeaway from that was we weren’t running any of our sets. We were a very play-based offense back then and now we’re more of a set, freelance moving-on-the-fly kind of offense. I think a big problem that game was, we went maybe 3 for 27 on faceoffs. I think our midfield and all of them are excited to get another shot at them. I feel like back then our defense was playing more on their heels and I think now we’re ready to really take it to them. I think that will be a big difference. I think we’re a lot more physical now, we were still very raw back then. I think we’re very much more ready and prepared this time.
Do you have a go-to pre or postgame meal?
Yeah, I get a Tropical Smoothie every single game day, Strawberry Limeaid.
What’s the go-to pregame song on every pregame playlist?
We usually go with “Dreams and Nightmares” by Meek Mill.
Dodging against a defender one-on-one, what’s your go-to move?
I usually like splitting to my left hand and going to a quick jump shot to my right hand. It’s usually pretty hard to stop when you get into your defender and I’m not really much of a speed or power guy. It’s just getting to your spot and then being to jump away and create space for yourself.
If you could have the opportunity to score or assist the game-winning goal which, would you choose?
I’d say probably feed it to anybody but my brother Tyler. As long as it’s not to him I will happily feed.
Who is the funniest guy on the team?
Logan Foust 100%. He’s just a goofball. He transferred in from Howard this year. He just comes to practice every day and makes everybody laugh whether it’s intentional or not. He loves being part of the team, he’s one of the hardest-working players on our team, always getting shots in before and after practice.
Who do you think would make the best future coach on the team?
I think Maverick would be a really good coach. We have a lot of very new players to this team, some even new to lacrosse. We had to transition a lot of players, especially to the defensive end and he did a really good job. It’s because he’s worked with so many great lacrosse players himself at Next Level and St John’s Prep. He was able to help those players, adjust to a position that he didn’t even really know, so I’d say Maverick would make a pretty awesome coach.
