Haverford School downs Episcopal, remains unbeaten

Drew Supinski strode slowly back to the Haverford School locker room as a teammate called his name.

Supinski, a senior midfielder, was needed for a moment after the Fords lacrosse team held off visiting Episcopal Academy, 12-5, in an Inter-Ac game Tuesday afternoon.

As Supinski turned and smiled, another teammate paid the Johns Hopkins-bound supinski a compliment.

"That's a born leader right there," he said.

Sometimes well-meaning teammates may dish undeserving praise so that their buddies are feted with positive press.

Other times, however, they are just spot on. According to Fords coach John Nostrant, such seems to be the case with supinski.

"He's the heartbeat," Nostrant said. "He's a guy that we count on, and a guy I would have in my foxhole any day."

On Tuesday, Supinski's four goals helped spark the Fords early, and finish the Churchmen late.

"In my 23 years," Nostrant said, "he's in the top five or six grittiest, smartest, difference-makers at Haverford, which is saying a lot."

In the first quarter, Supinski tallied twice to give Haverford (8-0 overall, 1-0 conference) - ranked No. 1 in the nation by several lacrosse publications - an early lead en route to a 7-1 cushion at halftime.

When Episcopal (5-2, 0-1) threatened with back-to-back goals in the third, Supinski responded with a goal, and he started the final frame with another.

"It's a game of runs," Supinski said. "I think they were speeding the game up. We like to play fast too, but I think our leadership [helped]. We slowed it down and started playing our game."

Junior attacker Forry Smith finished with four goals and senior midfielder Brandon Shima dished three assists.

"I'd like to consider myself as a leader," Supinski said. "We have a bunch of leaders on the team. We're a senior-laden team. I just try to lead by example, really. I think we have a lot of talent this year."

The Collegeville resident might be heralded as a leader now, but those credentials didn't come easily.

At one point, Supinski was just a freshman finding his way.

"I was just a 14-year-old skinny kid going against the Bailey twins [former teammates Connor and Warner, who went on to Georgetown] and they were... just really huge guys," he said.

Now, Supinski helps lead the undefeated Fords, one of the nation's top lacrosse teams.

"I think we're just trying to take it one game at a time," he said. "Going undefeated isn't really our main goal. We just really want to win our league and play our best every game."

Episcopal Academy 0 1 3 1 - 5

Haverford School 3 4 1 4 - 12

E: Curtis Zappala 3, Christian Feliziani 1, Chris Friedman 1.

H: Forry Smith 4, Drew Supinski 4, Grant Ament 2, Dox Aitken 1, Tucker McBride 1.

Saves: EA-Reder 12; HS-Alex DeMarco 8, Parker Henderer 1.