Pittsburgh native Ian Wild helps Hurst win their first title.

There was a time when NCAA coaches in Pennsylvania wanted nothing to do with Pittsburgh talent. Today, four Pittsburgh high school players are involved in the D2 and D3 title. Spencer Smith (Peters Township) will vie for a D3 title with Salisbury later today. Smith has carried a pole and played middie for the Gulls.

Earlier this afternoon, Ian Wild (Baldwin) went off for the Lakers scoring 4 goals and eventually commanding the pole. Wild’s success would have been considered unconscionable five years ago. Baldwin is a very young program, read: they aren’t very good. Mercyhurst didn’t recruit Pittsburgh kids. And, Pittsburgh products were rarely contributing at the NCAA level. Fast forward to Tommy Kehoe (Gettysburg), Kevin Kustron (Salisbury), and Peet Poillon (Ohio State/UMBC) and then to May 29, 2011. The Lakers don’t win this game if they hadn’t taken a chance on Wild.

There are no secrets to Wild’s success. He’s a big strong kid who wanted to become a good lacrosse player. You can’t teach speed and size. You can teach stick skills and lacrosse IQ. How big is Wild?

Men’s Lacrosse BSN Video Shoot from Mercyhurst SID on Vimeo.

Freshmen Jake McAndrew (Seneca Valley) contributed some minutes on the second midfield line and you already know about Brent Rotz. Congratulations to the Lakers for winning their first ever D2 title. Couldn’t have done it without 412 products.

Notes

To answer the above question, “How big is Wild?” specifically

Congratulations to Shawn Nadelen for securing the Towson head ball coach gig

Salisbury/Tufts in 3 minutes