Lenape's Gaffney plays the brain game

This time next year, Conor Gaffney will be studying engineering at Lehigh University.

He's not exactly sure what field, but he knows it suits his strengths in the classroom.

Gaffney is analytical by nature. And not just in his studies.

The mind-set also fuels his approach to winning faceoffs for the Lenape boys' lacrosse team, just as it will for the Mountain Hawks next season.

Action in the faceoff circle can look almost barbaric - two players physically grappling for position of a ball that sits between them.

But Gaffney didn't become the state's premier faceoff man - and a U.S. Lacrosse all-American - by brute force.

To him, it's a sweet science. He'll wax poetic on the finer points of the position.

He can talk about how it's evolved, and where he sees himself in the grand picture.

"I look at it as a mind game. It's very technical," the senior said.

"If I'm losing, it's not necessarily because a guy is quicker than me or stronger than me. It's that I can do something differently to beat him. It's about analyzing technique and adjusting."

Really, Gaffney's approach to the game is a model for the Lenape program.

The Indians are coming off the best season the program has had after winning its first South Jersey Group 4 title and making a surprising run to the state championship game.

The success was largely on the backs of players such as Gaffney - intelligent, athletic kids with a passion for lacrosse.

"He has all the attributes we look for," said Lenape coach Bill Sutphin. "He's smart, an incredibly hard worker. More than being coachable, he's actually a coach on the field."

Gaffney's passion runs deeper than most. Right now he's living with his grandparents after his father, whom Gaffney sites as instrumental to his development in lacrosse, moved to St. Louis earlier this school year to pursue a career opportunity.

Gaffney stayed behind because he wanted to finish out his senior seasons in football and lacrosse.

"I couldn't even imagine myself not being on this team for my final season," he said.

His coaches and teammates couldn't be happier with his choice.

Gaffney is a four-year starter who won 79 percent of his faceoffs last year. More than that, he's a leader of the Indians' defense.

"He breaks down how we want to play defense. Who's going to slide back, what guys we need to shut down," Sutphin said. "He's not only a faceoff kid. He's a kid who knows the game from one end to the other. He would be an excellent coach."

And he's been a role model for younger players.

Gaffney took the backup FOGO, sophomore Zach Cole, under his wing when Cole was in seventh grade. Gaffney taught him everything he knew from scratch.

Now Cole is committed to play the position at St. Joseph's.

"We go to Philadelphia. We go to North Jersey for clinics. We're doing faceoff things all the time," Gaffney said. "It's cool to see how far he's come."

Cole, Gaffney said, has a different style than his. Cole takes on the more popular stance of being on one knee to take the faceoff.

Gaffney's preference to stand up is more traditional, "old school" as he called it.

"I stand up because I feel more dynamic that way," he said. "Some people think it takes power away from me. But I feel like it makes me more ready to just play lacrosse, and that's to my advantage."

It's another example of Gaffney gaining an edge because of his intellect. He thinks outside the box. And it's worked, not just for him, but for his team.

"Moorestown, Shawnee and St. Augustine are really the big three in South Jersey,"

Gaffney said. "And we want to be in that conversation. We can do that by ending on a high note and going far in the playoffs, and we think we have the talent to do it."

rallysports@phillynews.com.