Lacrosse, Football
Favorite athlete: Saquon Barkley
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: Playing football senior year and winning the SOL with all my childhood best friends.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while playing sports: Getting caught in a trick play my senior year playing football at our home game on a look pass.
Music on playlist: Luke Combs, Hall & Oates, Oasis, Lil Baby
Future plans: Attend University of Scranton while playing lacrosse, doing Army ROTC and being enrolled in the Honors College and majoring in finance.
Words to live by: “You become what you give.”
One goal before turning 30: Finishing up my career in the Army after being on a base in the mainland like Hawaii or Italy.
One thing people don’t know about me: I am a savant at memorizing songs and playing name that tune.
By GORDON GLANTZ
It would be safe to say that Council Rock South standout senior Connor McCaffery had lacrosse in his DNA.
His uncle, Brian McCaffery, played club lacrosse at Penn State (before it was an official varsity sport). His older sister, Morgan McCaffery, was so skilled that she played at Louisville.
“I gained my inspiration from her,” he said. “My uncle played club lacrosse at Penn State before they had a team, and he was always talking about it. I started playing in second grade, and from there, it was always my favorite sport.”
While it was his favorite and a joy to play, McCaffery never ceased trying to improve his game.
As such, the team captain of the Hawks is spearheading them into the postseason as the all-time program leader in goals and points and will be continuing his career at the University of Scranton.
Although he is more about team goals and realizes that records are made to be broken, McCaffery is beyond satisfied with his legacy.
“I’m very proud of it,” he said. “It just feels good that everything I put into the sport is paying off, and being etched into the record books at your school is always a great feeling.”
As for a team goal, McCaffery got to achieve that as he experienced his first playoff win - after first-round exits his first three years - Tuesday in a home game against Abington.
He scored all of his team-high four goals in the second half, including three in the decisive third period, in the 17-6 triumph
“We have the ability to do anything,” said McCaffery. “We are one of the most resilient teams in the league this year. We always find a way to win.”
Hitting the Gridiron
With a little help from Mother Nature --growing two inches to an even 6-feet and adding 20 pounds to tip the scales at 185 -- McCaffery decided play his second favorite sport, football, last fall.
He had given it up after quarterbacking the freshman team to an undefeated season but decided to make a run with the same group of teammates, and they ended up winning a league title.
“With all the guys were returning, I just really wanted to be a part of something special this year,” said McCaffery. “I wanted to have one more chance to play with all of my childhood best friends, because I remembered how fun it was growing up. It wasn’t just the games but the practices and being around all my friends all the time.”
As for the championship with his lifelong friends, it was what McCaffery was counting on.
He said: “It was something that hadn’t been done in a while. It was something really special.”
McCaffery added that football, like lacrosse, breeds a special sort of team-bonding.
“Both sports, they go hand in hand with that, especially with the physicality and the team aspect,” he said. “It’s a collective kind of sport, and I think the comradery aspect in very similar. A bunch of football guys are playing lacrosse this year, and we carried over that mentality of football to lacrosse, and I think that is why we have seen some success.”
McCaffery wasn’t just hanging out on the sidelines, either. He returned to the gridiron as a savvy starting cornerback in the secondary.
“Absolutely,” said football coach C.J. Szydlik. “He played in the secondary growing up, so it was a natural fit. He solidified our defensive backfield with his intelligence and toughness.
“Connor is a great young man that works extremely hard. He’s one of those players that can balance having a good time while playing sports and being locked in when the time comes.”
Lacrosse coach Mike Murray, whose roster sees a lot of crossover from the football and ice hockey teams, naturally worried about injury to his top returning player but feels it actually paid dividends.
What he got in return from football was a true power forward who has been a force of nature this season.
“That helped him immensely,” said Murray. “He was a lot more physical coming back this year. I would call him more of a power type of forward this year, as compared to past years. He’s really just a good solid all-around player.”
McCaffery agrees that the physicality carried over to lacrosse.
“I think I’m definitely a more physical player now,” he said. “After football season, I realized that there was no reason anyone should be able to stop me.”
Making Lemonade
The biggest change in McCaffery’s game has been a lethal shot that he can wield with either hand.
Said Murray: “I challenge to kids to work on some of the skills that need improvement, and a lot of them will just go back to practice and work on whatever they are already good at doing.
“As an underclassman, Connor was working on his non-dominant hand. I saw him take a shot the other day with his offhand. It was so explosive that I couldn’t even tell which hand he was using. I kind of had to do a double take.”
The improved shot was the indirect result of a setback. McCaffery actually sustained an AC Joint injury to his right shoulder, which is his dominant trigger shoulder for lacrosse, in a seven-on-seven football game last summer.
That led to him to working the left shoulder so hard doing wall ball – all while playing his eclectic marathon music playlists -- that his shot gives goalkeepers nightmares.
“His shot is one of the top shots in the league,” said Murray. “He can get it off at different angles.
“As a player, he’s just really good. I’ve never had a player who has improved his shot so much from his junior to senior year, and he was already good. He is just a kid who has worked very hard in the offseason to improve himself. He takes the game very seriously.”
McCaffery realizes the injury was a blessing in disguise. He took lemons and made lemonade.
“I think my left hand is as good, if not better, than my right hand is now,” he said. “I just put the work in, shooting 100 shots a session.”
King Clutch
A year ago, as a junior, McCaffery shared the limelight up front with two standout seniors now playing Division III lacrosse in Owen Dillon (Farleigh Dickinson) and Joey Smith (Ithaca College).
“Even though Connor didn’t have the same number of goals as, say, Owen Dillon had as a junior, he had six game-winners,” said Murray. “That, by far, led the team and was more important than overall number of total goals.”
This year, with more of the burden on his shoulders, McCaffery hasn’t shrugged. For example, he posted the game-winner in the regular season finale against Central Bucks South.
“He is still scoring big goals for us, and he also does all the little things for us,” said Murray. “He’s just very competitive. He gets a lot of attention for scoring goals, but he’s not just there for the flash but he’s also a hard worker.”
McCaffery feels his work ethic, more than talent, is what has helped to set him apart. There were a lot of long solitary hours involved.
“You make your own luck,” said the son of Kristie and Jim McCaffery, both of whom he wanted to thank, along with all of his coaches, for their enduring support. “I learned that through lacrosse. You are not going to just automatically gain skills and separate yourself from other people. You need to be obsessed with it, and with the ability to outwork other people.
“I’m getting these game-winning opportunities because I put in the work to get there. When the big time comes, I circle back to just thinking, ‘I prepared for this. There is no reason I shouldn’t be able to make a shot when I’ve shot the same shot a thousand times in practice.’ I just have to apply it. That’s the fun part about it.”
Fun for the Hawks, maybe, but not opponents. That is what makes him nearly impossible to defend.
“He is the guy, without a doubt, that every coach plans for when they play us,” said Murray. “Whenever he was in the game, you’d hear the opposition coach calling out his number for some defensive formation to stop him. It didn’t even really have any affect. He still had a good year, and he did that by using his teammates.”
Natural Captain
Not only does McCaffery lead on the scoresheet but also by example as a captain.
“He’s been a great captain for us,” said Murray. “I appreciate that about him.
“I already had him identified as a captain when he was a freshman. He was just that kind of a kid. He had no problem calling out an upperclassman, like if they were in the weight room and not doing what they needed to do. That was really the first sign. He is just a super competitive kid.”
Looking Ahead
McCaffery said he heard good things about the lacrosse program at Scranton. He contacted the coaches, went for a visit and it felt right.
“I think it’s going to be a very good situation for Connor,” said Murray. “He’s a hard worker, and that’s the biggest indicator of success. The D3 level is more competitive than it’s ever been. It’s all about what you do from here on. If he keeps working, he will rise up there as well and be the same kind of player that he is in high school at the D3 level.
“He’ll be a well-received teammate, too, because he’s a good teammate to other players. That’s part of lacrosse that people don’t really get. It’s a team sport. Even though he has had such an amazing senior year, I think he will continue to accelerate and get better.”
Also important to McCaffery is the ability to be part of the ROTC program at Scranton, as he hopes to serve in the Army for eight years (four active, four in the reserves) after graduation.
“I always had an interest in the Army growing up,” said McCaffery, who has a 3.9 GPA and is an officer in the National English Honor Society. “I wanted to see how I could play lacrosse and also serve my country. You get the best of both worlds. You are able to sacrifice something and be part of something that is bigger than yourself.”
McCaffery went to explain his leadership style.
“I have a mindset of ‘work hard, play hard’ and I’m not the kind who is going to be yelling at everyone constantly,” he said. “When you do that, everyone kind of stops buying in to what you are saying. I’m a person who just wants to back up his teammates.”
