Howard Benedict

Howard Benedict is a veteran lacrosse coach. He is the 2008 US Lacrosse Man of the Year.

Biography

Benedict, a verteran lacrosse coach, played varsity lacrosse at Fairfield College Preparatory School on the campus of Fairfield University and at Lafayette College, where he was a standout player. His grandfather was an All-American midfielder at The Johns Hopkins University.

Benedict was hired in 1973 to be the first varsity lacrosse coach at New Canaan High School in New Canaan Ct. The New Canaan YMCA had a club team in the spring of 1972 and the high school fielded a JV team in the spring of 1973, coached by Mr. Maier, who was an English teacher in the high school.

Benedict has been the New Canaan High School Lacrosse Coach for 34 years. He founded the New Canaan Lacrosse Association and has won a total of 18 FCIAC and State Championships. Benedict has led the team to 18 appearances in the State final and to 23 FCIAC finals. Since 1977, only on five different occasions has Benedict not brought his team to the State or FCIAC Finals. Benedict has also has won more lacrosse games than any other Connecticut lacrosse coach.

In 1996, after the Rams won the state championship, Benedict was named the CHSCA Outstanding Coach of the Year. The Rams’ last FCIAC and State championships came in 2003, when the team was 22-0 and defeated rival Darien three times. Benedict is a Connecticut Chargers Lacrosse Club Director. He is currently an English Teacher at New Canaan High School and is the 2008 US Lacrosse Man of the Year. Benedict is said to be one of the "founding fathers of Connecticut Lacrosse." Benedict held the first ever lacrosse camp in Connecticut. Benedict, ironically, used to invite players from Darien to come play in the youth program in New Canaan when Darien had not yet established a youth developmental program. Darien has since become New Canaan's biggest rival.

In 2007, Benedict ended Darien's three year streak of not losing a game to any team in Connecticut. Benedict led the team to a 5-4 victory over Darien in the FCIAC Semi-Finals. Since this victory, the only Connecticut team to beat Darien is Greenwich in the 2008 season with a 8-7 victory over Darien. Greenwich is coached by Paul Burke, an alum and former New Canaan assistant coach. Burke was an All American goalie for Benedict in 1980.

Quotations

“What we have is a tradition, since I started off, the only thing that’s changed is I’ve gotten more experience and learned from my players and opponents. New Canaan is about having high expectations. New Canaan Lacrosse has a long tradition and I have high expectations from myself and from the kids.”

"Err on the side of aggression."

"They are resilient," Benedict said of the Rams. "Rob Dubas has made shots like that consistently all season long. We know he can shoot. He really gives us some depth."

Players

Benedict has coaches hundreds of terrific players who have gone on to play at the highest levels of Division One and Division Three. Benedict has coached a number of players who have played professionally in the Major League Lacrosse League including Andy Towers, David Curry and Austin Garrison. Benedict has coached players who played at:

Divsion 1Hopkins,Duke, Syracuse,UVA,Georgetown,Cornell,UNC,Army,UPenn,Yale,Navy,Colgate,Hartford,Loyola,Princeton,Hobart,Harvard,Denver U,Bucknell,Brown,Dartmouth,Fairfield,Villanova,Lehigh,Providence,UVM.

Division 3Gettysburg,Denison,Middlebury,WAC,Ithaca,Williams,OWU,Wesleyan,Haverford,Amherst,Tufts,Haverford,Gordon,Dickinson,Boulder,RIT,Bowdoin,Skidmore,Endicott,Nazareth,Wasgington and Lee,Connecticut College,Ursinus,Muhlenberg,Trinity,Union,Springfield,St. Lawrence,Franklin and Marshall,Bates,Wooster,Kenyon,McDaniel,Colby,Hamilton,Eastern Connecticut,Swarthmore,Colorado College.

Coaches

Many of the players that Benedict coached have gone on to coach at either the High School or College Level.

Andrew Towers, Associate Head Coach at Dartmouth College

David Campbell, Head Coach at Middlebury College

Mike Murphy, Former Assistant for Benedict and Head Coach at Haverford College

David Curry, Former Assistant Coach at University of Virginia

Paul Burke, Former Assistant for Benedict and Head Coach at Greenwich High School

Robert Lutz, Former Assistant for Benedict and Assistant Coach at Darien High School

Steve Schmitz, Former Assistant for Benedict at New Canaan High School

References

http://www.uslacrosse.org

http://www.nchslax.org/

http://www.maxpreps.com/FanPages/Content/Article.mxp/ArticleID-9cbfe4be-d796-4c15-b987-06916662c692

http://www.nclaxalumnicamp.com

http://www.cthssports.com/show_full_news.php?article=31

http://www.laxpower.com/laxnews/news.php?story=11379