By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
A lot of sports have a tradition of handing out a game ball after a big win. Football, baseball, softball, lacrosse. Some sports teams will hand candy, gum, sunflower seeds — maybe some sort of trinket to the Player of the Game.
Normally, said awards are given to the player who has had the most impact on field, or court, depending on the sport.
Rarely does a coach hand out a game ball to a player who never steps foot on the field during the game.
But that’s what happened last week, when the St. Augustine Prep boys lacrosse team scored a big-time, 4-1 win over Moorestown, the defending Group 3 state champion and a team that came in ranked No. 5 in the state’s Top 20 poll. While talking to his team in the post-game huddle, Hermits coach J.C. Valore went out of his way to praise junior goalie Kyle Helphenstine — who never even got into the game.
You see, the Hermits deploy a two-goalie system, where senior Ben Zaitz plays the first half of games and Helphenstine the second half. Valore calls it the team’s “two-headed monster” as the pair are so even in skill and talent that it just makes sense to play both of them in every game. They’ve combined for 83 saves in the Hermits’ first 12 games of the season, and have helped their team to a 10-2 record and the state’s No. 6 ranking after the win over Moorestown.
But with his team clinging to a 1-0 halftime lead against the Quakers, coach Valore just had a feeling that sticking with Zaitz was the way to go in the second half of that particular game. He liked the way Zaitz and the defense were vibing, and had to make the difficult decision to sit Helphenstine the rest of the way in favor of the senior.
It’s never easy, Valore said, to keep a kid on the bench the entire game, particularly an athlete as competitive as Helphenstine who plays three varsity sports at a high level.
“It all comes down to trust,” Valore said after the victory last Thursday. “I don’t think it was about messing up what we were going to do, it was more elevating what we were doing and continuing that. We expect to get right back at it Saturday and have Kyle in there for half the game. That’s his job, and he’ll be ready for it.”
Helphenstine’s reaction wasn’t typical of a high school kid. He didn’t hang his head, didn’t sulk. His attitude, the coach said, was, hey, let’s go get this win, whatever it takes. And that’s why he was awarded the game ball, because he showed the type of leadership that St. Augustine Prep coaches and educators harp on every day when dealing with the young men in their care.
“That’s one of the most selfless things you can do. We’re always looking for great teammates, and Kyle, in a big way, stepped up to that,” Valore said. “He’s played half a game the entire year. But we were coming into halftime (with a 1-0 lead), we had a groove with our defense, a groove with our goalie, and he understood that. He’s a competitor. He’s a three-sport varsity athlete, he wants to play, but he understood (what was happening). That’s an acknowledgement of where the game is and the situation that’s going on.
“I think when you build strong enough relationships — and a lot of these guys understand, there are going to be some situational moments. Again, he’s a three-sport varsity athlete who competes all the time. He’ll be ready to go tomorrow, trust me,” Valore added. “He’s all class and always has been. He’s been a staple in this program, and splitting time in the cage with Ben, we have a good two-headed monster, so to speak. It shows a lot of, not just maturity, but buy-in from him to what we’re doing. On another day, it could be him on the other side of that.”
“He’s one of my boys. He’s a great kid,” junior midfielder Ryan Diamond said of Helphenstine, who also plays football and basketball for the Hermits. “He knew he had to buy in; even if he’s not on the field, everyone is still buying in. He bought in, stayed behind Ben, supported him and that’s what it’s all about.”
Zaitz said there’s never any animosity between he and Helphenstine; they work as a team to put forth the best goalkeeping effort they can every day for the Hermits.
“We’ve come so far together as a tandem and he knows, day in and day out, whether I’m on or whether I’m off, whether he’s in — we’re going to support each other and do what’s best for the team. We just hype each other up, and we know that whoever is in, we’re just going to go out there and ball,” Zaitz said. “It’s awesome. I couldn’t ask to have a better guy with me. I learn so much from him and talk about stuff all the time with him. We have a great relationship.”
“They are connected,” Valore said. “It’s funny how goalies and faceoff guys work like that. They are always so connected that they have this brotherhood that rides through the ups and downs.”
WHAT’S NEXT: St. Augustine Prep travels to Perkiomen (Pa.) on Thursday at 4 p.m.
