Matt Guerard isn’t very big, very fast or very strong.
All he is is very good.
And that’s welcome news for followers of the Catawba men’s lacrosse team, a colorful group of mix-and-match athletes who toil without much fanfare on the school’s far-reaching, lower fields. Guerard, you see, is a money-in-the-bank goalie who is making a name for himself — and the Indians.
“I hope so,” he says with a boyish smile. “To me it’s all about the team getting better. But make no mistake, I love the spotlight. I can handle pressure pretty well.”
The 5-foot-10, 225-pound senior from upstate New York demonstrated as much last spring when he led the nation’s Division II keepers with a 67.9 save percentage. It earned him a berth on this year’s preseason All-America team.
“I guess because I face a lot of shots, I save a lot of them,” says Guerard, who brought an 11.98 goals-against-average and a 66.8 save percentage into Saturday’s Deep South Conference game at St. Andrews. “Last year surprised me because it’s such a tough field. I mean, those goalies up north at New York Tech and C.W. Post are all tough guys. They face some big-time competition.”
So has Guerard. He made a school-record 34 saves in a 15-2 loss to defending national champion Limestone on March 10.
“That team averages about 20 goals a game,” said Peter Bourque, Catawba’s eighth-year coach. “They come at you and come at you and come at you. But you know goalies, they’re a few fries short of a Happy Meal. They’re unique. It takes a special person to sit there and let someone throw a ball 80, 90, a hundred miles an hour right at you.”
It’s something Guerard enjoys, something he’ll miss when he graduates with a degree in physical education next month. He plans to stick around as an assistant coach while searching for his true ambition: to work as a teacher and coach high school ice hockey.
“I wanted to play college hockey but didn’t get the opportunity,” says Guerard. “No one knocked on my door. But I got a lot of lacrosse letters and this just seemed like the best fit for me.”
So he came to Catawba as a walk-on and spent two years chained to the bench behind Division II all-star Andrew Gaunt. But his days as an observer paid off last season, when he quickly developed a take-no-prisoners mentality.
“He was a leader right from the start,” says Bourque. “He understood his role when he was sitting. He knew he’d get his time so he studied and he learned.”
Guerard learned enough to record 258 saves in 13 games as Catawba went 6-8 in 2000 — it best season. This year the team dropped its first five games before winning three of its next four, thanks largely to Guerard’s 23 saves per night. “The program is really coming around,” he says. “I’m glad I got to be part of it.”
He’s been a major part of it. Just ask attackman Michael Johnson, the Tribe’s top goal-scorer and Guerard’s on-campus roommate.
“Whenever we’re down in a slump and he’s just playing his normal game, making ridiculous saves, it pumps us up,” Johnson says. “It makes us want to stick a few goals for him.”
That doesn’t surprise Bourque, a Jersey native who attended Guilford College. “Matt makes these saves and it somehow brings confidence to the rest of the team,” he says. “Everybody plays up another notch because everybody plays for him.”
“He’s definitely made his mark,” added senior defenseman Scott Schulte. “He takes charge of the defense and gets real vocal.”
Guerard’s show will run through the weekend of April 21-22, when Catawba battles in the conference tournament. When it ends, so will the career of its prolific, pear-shaped goalie, a little engine who could — and did.
“I remember when I started playing goal,” says Guerard. “That thrill of stopping someone from scoring. The fans are screaming. It makes you want to stop the next one just so you don’t disappoint anybody.”
Don’t worry, Matt Guerard. You haven’t.
Today's News