It says a great deal about a lacrosse program’s standing when not one, but two goalies in the same class get an opportunity to play at the collegiate level.
Four St. Anne’s-Belfield players made their collegiate intentions known Wednesday, including two keepers, Mark Hargrove and Austin Geisler, with Hargrove bound for the Virginia Military Institute and Geisler headed across Highway 250 to play for Virginia.
“Both of them have extraordinary work ethic,” said St. Anne’s goalie coach Rodney Rullman. “We work a lot and it’s because they call me.”
That’s certainly held true for Hargrove, who came to STAB with the intention of developing his game to create an opportunity for him to play in college. Despite not getting a lot of chances behind usual starter Geisler, Hargrove has learned to rise to the occasion when he is given the chance, lifting the Saints to wins over Woodberry Forest and St. Christopher’s last season with Geisler on the shelf with an injury.
“It’s definitely a huge thing, but Rodney has brought me to the next level,” Hargrove said. “It’s a dream come true.”
Attackman Owen Van Arsdale, who signed with Virginia and will play under his father Marc Van Arsdale, the associate head coach for the Cavaliers and midfielder Chapin Speidel will suit up for Denision, a top-tier Division III team that Gettysburg College knocked out of the NCAA quarterfinals last year.
The quartet has played a big role in STAB’s back-to-back state titles.
“This senior class has probably been one of the most talented and decorated groups to ever come through,” said STAB’s new head coach Bo Perriello, formerly the team’s associate head coach. “They came in with a real desire to put our program back on the top and feed off the tradition that we’ve had here.”
Speidel’s signing is a particular triumph. The senior, who doubles as a defensive back in football, tore his ACL and his meniscus between his sophomore and junior years during summer lacrosse. He’s clearly shown enough to earn a shot at Denison in Granville, Ohio, a school that’s something of a family tradition.
“A lot of my family members went there — my dad’s family is from Ohio,” Speidel said. “So we had that family connection.”
