Nostrant’s Fords farewell ends in usual winning way

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HAVERFORD — The Haverford School lacrosse team packed into a classroom so tightly Thursday afternoon that assistant coaches were relegated to the hallway. But when head coach John Nostrant walked in, you could hear a pin drop.

Amid the debrief of the regular-season-capping 14-11 win over archrival Episcopal Academy, Nostrant, in his soft-spoken yet authoritative voice, offered a common refrain of wisdom this season: Cherish the time, he told his team. The remaining two weeks that the Fords have to work, to play, to grow together. The remaining two weeks they have in the chase of an Inter-Ac title. And for Nostrant, it’s the last two weeks of a 28-year reign over a Haverford School program he has taken to national prominence.

Haverford School’s Pete Garno, left, gets a bearhug from teammate Geordy Holmes after scoring in the fourth quarter against Episcopal Thursday. The Fords went on to a 14-11 victory in coach John Nostrant’s final regular season game with the Fords. (Pete Bannan/Digital First Media)

“Just being with these guys for another 10 days or whatever it’s going to be, it’s going to be great,” Nostrant said. “I want these guys to cherish that and enjoy it, because sometimes we get so caught up and we’re so results-oriented, just enjoy the journey a little bit, and I think these guys are doing it.”

The latest installment — a sometimes nervous, sometimes dominant win over EA — exemplified the identity of what will be remembered as Nostrant’s final team with Haverford, the legendary coach announcing last summer he’d be parting ways with the school after a valedictory campaign.

This isn’t Nostrant’s most talented team, less an indictment of the current squad than praise for the panoply of stars tutored on the Main Line. But the ride he’s taken with these Fords is one of Nostrant’s favorites, in part because a senior-led group has internalized the identity of being the last squad.

The results have followed, Nostrant courting a national schedule more difficult than the usual gauntlet set forth and finishing the regular season without a loss to Pennsylvania competition. They’ve tangled with powers like IMG Academy, won on national television by sweeping through the GEICO Invitational and posted a 16-4 record to be the top seed in the Inter-Ac playoffs, which commence next week, all while Nostrant last week learned he’d be continuing his career as the coach of Baltimore’s Gilman School.

So while Thursday’s finale was the final game on Sabol Field for 11 Fords, each knew he wasn’t the most important farewell of the day.

“We walked onto the field, it was us kind of realizing it was Noddy’s last game on this field,” attackman Adam Salvaggio said. “And as a group of seniors, it’s my last time playing on that field and the last time playing for Nostrant on this field. It obviously put a little bit more on this game knowing it’s the last time and we have to do it right.”

“He means everything,” midfielder Peter Garno said of Nostrant. “We listen to him without question. … To last 28 years at a place like this and have the record he does is really remarkable. We’re so happy and honored to be part of his last team.”

Thursday wasn’t the Fords’ best performance. They led 5-1 after one quarter but let the Churchmen sneak into halftime trailing just 7-5 thanks to a pair of goals in the final 20 seconds of the half. The Fords responded with a blitz of four goals in the first three minutes of the second half to restore a six-goal cushion, but letdowns allowed EA to make it interesting, three goals in 44 seconds trimming the deficit to within 12-10 with 7:03 to play.

But as Nostrant has lauded his group for all season, they figured it out, coming up with just enough stops, just enough faceoff wins and just enough saves. As they have all year — winning early or late, games low-scoring or high — they came out on the right side, a consequence of toughness Nostrant instills and the bonds between his group, or “the ability to pick each other up,” in Nostrant’s terms.

“Since the start of this year, we’ve just known this is it,” Salvaggio said. “We want to send him out the right way, the way we know how. That’s been the motivation for the entirety of this year, to do it right for him.”

Garno was the catalyst in the second half, scoring the first two goals and netting four times total. Salvaggio tallied a hat trick and an assist, and middie Gavin Burke registered a hat trick.

EA found its way with the help of goalie Matt Chess. He dusted himself off from the uncharacteristic stretch to start the third and was sensational the rest of the frame, with seven saves to give EA a chance to crawl back into it.

Episcopal Academy’s Charlie Cunniffe, left, challenges Haverford School’s Jack Leary in the fourth quarter Thursday. (Pete Bannan/Digital First Media)

“It really takes some grit,” said EA’s Charlie Cunniffe, who tallied a goal and three assists. “They have a good team that goes on runs, but you’ve really just got to grit down, pick up a groundball. After they went on that couple-goal run, we just said, get the next groundball and that’s what starts it. And you’ve got to take your time and not rush to the goal.”

Chess stopped 15 shots total. Faceoff man Jack Henderson scored in the fourth quarter and won seven of eight draws in that period to finish 13-for-27 at the X against the Fords’ draw pairing of Chris Tsetsekos (8-for-13) and Bobby Blewett (8-for-16). Jackson Tuma, Nick Bates and Nate Hunter scored twice each for the Churchmen.

The day ended with Nostrant, decked out in his usual uniform of a work boots and #10ve gear (in honor of the late Kip Taviano), in the uncomfortable position at the center of attention, one who insisted the game wasn’t that different than the hundreds he’s won before. As his players convened in the locker room, he went through a receiving line of well-wishers, even those on the other side of the centuries-old rivalry who thanked him for being the tide that raised all Inter-Ac lacrosse boats.

The only souvenir he left the field with was a game ball, presented by his wife Gina, and a sense of peace at the symbolic finale … at least until it’s time to put the boots on and get back to work tomorrow.

“All the stuff that’s happened here and is happening here, it’s all meant to be,” Nostrant said. “It’s all the way it was supposed to happen. I believe that. And these guys are playing extremely well. … It was fun, it’s a little bittersweet, but I think we’re all focused on continuing and we want to win two more games.”

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Matthew De George

Matthew De George
Matthew De George is the Asst. Sports Editor and the lead Union writer for The Daily Times.

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