Junior attack Jeremy Kennedy is leading the charge for the men’s lacrosse team. Last Saturday, his five-goal performance brought him to 56 goals on the season, breaking the single season goal record. Last week he was also named the Ohio River Lacrosse Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the third time this season. He currently leads the entire conference in goals and points.
The team sits at a 12-3 record, undefeated 8-0 in conference. They are on a nine game win streak. Head coach Peter Tulk noted that Kennedy has been an integral piece to the team’s success so far.
“Despite his scoring talent, Jeremy is very unselfish. He is a very good shooter; accurate with a quick release. He moves well without the ball and is consistently able to get some easy goals off the other team’s turnovers,” Tulk said.
Twice this season, Kennedy has scored the game-winning goal for the Bearcats. The first time was against Grove City College in overtime, and second, the last minute of regulation against Transylvania College.
Kennedy expressed that that win against Transylvania was one of his favorite moments from his collegiate career because they are Saint Vincent’s biggest rival in men’s lacrosse. The Bearcats lost to them in the ORLC championship last year, making the win this year especially sweet.
Tulk explained that he is impressed that Kennedy is continually able to score so many goals since other teams have an abundance of game film available to them, allowing them to thoroughly scout before the game. He does partly attribute this to the fact that there are many other talented players on the team, making it hard for other teams to solely focus on shutting down Kennedy.
Kennedy gives his teammates a lot of credit as well.
“All of my goals are because of my teammates. Honestly, they’re the ones that do all the work. I just move to get open around the net and they dodge defenders to set me up with great passes,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy also described that he knows any of his teammates are able to score from anywhere on the field, which takes a lot of pressure off of him to do it all himself.
Kennedy has been an impact player for the Bearcats since his freshman year. He ranked first in goals and second in points in 2016, and first in both categories in 2017. Last year, he also recorded seven hat tricks and
ranked fourth in the conference in goals.
He became just the nineteenth player in the programs history to reach 100 career points in the season opener against La Roche College this year, scoring five goals and tallying three assists.
Looking ahead to the final stretch of the season, the Bearcats are looking to bring home the ORLC championship title. Kennedy noted that his team is definitely up to the challenge.
“We’re pretty confident that we can beat any team that we face. We just need to keep that strong mentality for every game and continue to work hard in our last practices,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy first started playing lacrosse when he was in the fifth grade. He quickly fell in love with the games fast pace and the ability for any single game to change on a dime. He also explained that lacrosse is a good sport for him because players don’t have to have a lot of size to be good like they would for other sports, like basketball or football.
Kennedy is an engineering major, and plans to be an architect after he graduates. He also expressed interest in working with his dad, who is a contractor.
Kennedy and the rest of his team return to action on April 25 at SVC against Washington and Jefferson College at 4 p.m.
Photos: SVC Athletics