Spring-Ford’s Hare keeps it in the family, earns Mercury All-Area POY

It runs in the family. Both of them.

Whether with Spring-Ford or the Hare family, lacrosse and Liam Hare go together like a ball in a well-worn pocket.

The recent Spring-Ford graduate fits perfectly with collective at home and the lacrosse field yet has the natural ability to differentiate himself.

He did so his senior season with the Rams as the long, aggressive defender that shaped the team’s defensive identity, which was a key piece in Spring-Ford winning its sixth-straight Pioneer Athletic Conference championship and achieving the program’s best-ever finish by reaching the District 1 fifth-place game.

His sure-handedness made him a fixture on the faceoff unit and his reliability in transition was unmatched. In a season of highlights for Spring-Ford, anyone watching knew one was coming when Hare, who had 12 goals and five assists, would break from the defense and join the attack.

For being the complete player on a complete team, Hare earned himself Mercury All-Area Player of the Year honors. Hare was also named PAC Most Valuable Player and to the Eastern Pa. Lacrosse Coaches Association team.

It’s the second year in a row a member of the Hare household won the award after brother Zach Hare in 2015. The St. Joseph’s rising sophomore starred for Spring-Ford as an offensive midfielder scoring 43 goals with 10 assists as a senior and was an All-American.

They both followed brother Ian Hare – the oldest of Steve and Maria Hare’s six children – a former Rams’ standout defenseman and All-Area first teamer.

His brothers laid separate paths. Liam Hare beat his own, too … right in the middle.

“I always try to find things in my game that’s different from everybody else. Ian was as great defenseman and Zach was a great offensive middie. I tried to put a bit of both their styles in my game. A defenseman playing defense is great, but I really like to push transition and try to help out the offense and see if I can help on the other end of the field,” Hare said. “Especially on wings and faceoffs, that was a pretty big part of my game this year. It definitely helped having two of the best faceoff kids in the state (Justin Schwenk and Matt DellaCroce), but some draws they helped me, I helped them out so we had a good thing.”

Hare was already an impact player as a sophomore, but there was certainly a level of expectation following his siblings. Not that it was a burden.

“It was a blessing. Especially coming from a big family – I’m one of 6 – and being a lacrosse-oriented family has definitely been a blessing. Any time I want to go out and work on something there’s always someone here who will have a catch with me, will work or run with me, whatever it is. We like to push each other and after the numbers Zach and Ian put up in their senior years I said, ‘I want to do something like that.’ I wanted people to look and say we’re a good family and Spring-Ford’s not a pushover program like people used to think, that there’s some kids coming out of here who can really play.”

There’s little doubt in that after the Rams fielded a senior group with more than a few future Division I players including Schwenk and DellaCroce, plus Kevin Todd, Jake Hvazda and goalie Chris Morgan.

“We used to say I’d rather play on a team with best friends who are good lacrosse players than a team of great lacrosse players who you don’t really want to be around. The group of best friends are going to win every time and everyone really bought into that,” Hare said.

It resulted in a 21-3 record that included regular-season wins over PIAA champion Springfield-Delco and District 1 finalist Avon Grove.

With a 9-3 win over the Red Devils in their opener and a 15-3 demolition of Springfield to follow, the Rams were superb to start the season. The trend continued through an undefeated PAC campaign – a 10-9 loss to eventual District 1 champion Upper Dublin served as the only blemish of their 19-1 start – that was punctuated by a 12-8 win over archrival Owen J. Roberts in the league final.

The District 1 playoffs were less kind to Spring-Ford when Springfield got revenge in the quarterfinals (10-7). The Rams rebounded with a 16-13 win over Garnet Valley – a win they were unable to achieve the year prior – before a 7-6 setback to Bishop Shanahan in a PIAA play-in game to deny them a long-sought trip to states.

“Up until the past few years, no one considered Spring-Ford to possibly be a top 3 team in the state or the district. The past few years we’ve shown that we’re not a school that’s going to roll over and die because you have a Ches-Mont or Central League name on your jersey.

“It is disappointing because we didn’t end the season the way we wanted to but the group of guys we had and the success we continued in the PAC-10s and making it a step further than anyone’s ever done, it’s not the best outcome for us but we’re going to hold our heads high. It’s an accomplishment in itself that we’re the winningest class in Spring-Ford history.”

Now, Hare, who plays his club lacrosse with Mesa Fresh, is ready to for the challenge of college lacrosse at St. Joseph’s. He was originally signed to attend Jacksonville University, but reversed course after a coaching change and will join Zach on the Hawks’ roster.

“It’s another four years to make a name for myself and try to create my own legacy like I tried to do here. I get to start over and take things my own direction,” he said. “I’m really excited to take things to the next level. Competition in the college level is a whole new animal and I want to see how I rank up against that.”

“Recruiting me through Zach and being down there with him and seeing all of it and the school and watching him play, I definitely think it’s going to be a good fit. I don’t want to say I would have been homesick in Jacksonville but I think it’s better that my parents will be able to come and see me and Zach play lacrosse together again.”

The Hares are certainly staying together in a trying time after daughter Corinne, 12, was recently diagnosed with Osteosarcoma when a large tumor was discovered on her lower back.

The Spring-Ford community and the Hares have banded together in support – a GoFundMe page to support medical expenses has already raised more than $18,000 in addition to a benefit event being held Sunday, Aug. 7 from 3-7 p.m. at Manderach Park. Liam and his brothers have shaved their heads in support of their little sister.

It’s not the fun and games of lacrosse, but in the Hares and Spring-Ford, there’s a record of success that has Corinne in good hands.