St. Mary's Lax Book

Ben Rubeor 2013-Current

The game of Lacrosse has always been about relationships for me – the way we treat our teammates, the sacrifices we make for each other, the respect required to build trust, and the trust that’s required to have success. I have always believed that good people, more so than talent, are the foundation of good teams. My time at St. Mary’s began because of relationships. I played for Coach Jim Moorhead during my freshman year at Loyola High School, and we won my first and only MIAA Championship together that year. I recognized in him the competitiveness and caring that is required of a good coach, and it has stuck with me to this day. During the summer of 2012, I was working at a lacrosse camp with Trey Witty, who had just been hired as the Athletic Director at St. Mary’s. He told me about the head coaching position, and after interviewing, he offered me the job. My first season in 2013 was a struggle. We finished with a 6-9 record with five one-goal losses, and we missed out on the playoffs in our final game of the season. I didn’t do a good enough job at the end of games to set our team up for success, and I believe the players were still learning to trust me. The season ended with a game against Mt. St. Joe, which we lost in double overtime. A win would have secured a place in the playoffs, despite our record. It was difficult to take, but it fueled my desire to improve and motivated our players to work harder. I have been lucky to be surrounded by good coaches over the past two seasons – Victor Lilly, Jack Manley, Joe Keenan, Tim Troutner, and Tim Schaeffer to name a few. Last year, Joe Thompson also joined our staff. Joe was a senior captain during my freshman year at the University of Virginia. During that time, he helped me to grow as a person and to realize the gift of working hard at something you love. He is one of the finest motivators and teachers of the game that I have ever been around. He came back to St. Mary’s to be closer to his family, and he helped us get things moving in the right direction. With the help of these coaches, we finished with an 11-6 record last year, and we were back in the playoffs for the first time since 2011. As I enter my third season as the head coach of St. Mary’s, I am excited about our potential. We have 10 seniors that plan to play college lacrosse next year, and 9 players in the program that are committed to play at the Division I level. There are currently 107 players in the program, including 32 freshmen. I was also recently hired as the Assistant Athletic Director. It will allow me to spend more time around the players, and it is my hope that it will help us have more success. Go Saints! Ben Rubeor

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