The 2017-18 American Family Insurance ALL-USA boys lacrosse team was selected based on performance, level of competition and strength of schedule.
Player of the Year: Joey Epstein, Landon School (Bethesda, Md.)
MORE: First Team | Second Team | Third Team
COACH PROFILE:
Name: Steve Lydon
School: Boston College High (Mass.)
So close two years running, the B.C. High boys lacrosse program finally put itself over the top this spring. The Eagles concluded a dominating postseason run by overwhelming (Acton, Mass.) Acton-Boxborough, 16-3, to win the Massachusetts Division 1 state championship.
Calling the shots for B.C. High was Steve Lydon, the AFI ALL-USA Coach of the Year. Lydon and the Eagles had reached the state title game each of the last two years only to lose to (Sudbury, Mass.) Lincoln-Sudbury High both years. B.C. High didn’t get to exact revenge on the Warriors this year—Acton-Boxboro beat them in the sectional semifinals—but a convincing win over the Colonials was just as satisfying.
“The guys have been 100 percent locked in to what they’ve wanted to accomplish,” Lydon told the Boston Herald after the title game. “For a group of kids, their dedication and discipline is something to marvel at.”
The Eagles (20-3) outscored their opponents, 81-22, in their five-game run to the title. They never allowed more than five goals in one game and their closest margin of victory was a 13-5 win over Hingham High in the South Sectional final.
Lydon played lacrosse at Providence College, graduating in 2011. He spent a couple years as the head coach at his alma mater Braintree (Mass.) High before making the move to B.C. High in 2015. He took over a program without much history and in four years has accumulated a 76-14 record (.844).
It helps that matriculating as freshman with Lydon that first year were a couple of future Division I defenders in Tommy Joyce (Harvard) and AFI ALL-USA First Team selection Will Bowen (North Carolina). They helped lay the foundation for a program that is solidly on an upward trajectory.
“The program is still young and I think this is just the start for us,” Lydon said to the Patriot Ledger. “That senior class has put this program in a great position, and I expect more success in the future.”
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PRESEASON: ALL-USA Boys Lacrosse Team
LOOKBACK: 2016-17 ALL-USA Boys Lacrosse Team