The Fox Chapel Area boys lacrosse team has made great strides in Jordon Hodder’s first two seasons as coach. As he enters his third year at the helm of the program, coach Hodder is looking for the team to progress even a little bit more.
In 2024, the Foxes went 11-6 and qualified for the WPIAL playoffs. They won their first-round game over Norwin before losing in the quarterfinals to Mt. Lebanon, the two-time defending Class 3A WPIAL champion.
This came off of the heels of an 8-8 season in 2023 that also saw the Foxes qualify for the postseason.
“We’re setting standards,” coach Hodder said. “Those standards are we’re going to win a home playoff game and make it to the quarterfinals. We have to work on how to get to the semifinals and the championship game.”
Hodder said one way of taking that next step is building off of these last two seasons.
“I had 11 seniors last year, probably 10 of them had a lot of playing time and made a major impact,” he said. “But we do have a lot of guys that have a lot of potential to be pretty successful. I think we have a lot of guys who are going to be stepping up. We return a starter at every level. We’re going to get at it, take it day by day, and see who’s willing to take us in the right direction.”
One of those guys overflowing with potential is sophomore Tucker Cullen, who paced the team in scoring with 69 points as a freshman. Then again, Tucker does have a knack for scoring as he is among the leading point-getters on the Fox Chapel ice hockey team.
“He definitely has a lot of potential to continue to develop himself into an even more dominant player,” coach Hodder said. “He has a very high ceiling. He is better known around the WPIAL this year, so he will have more of a target on his back. But I think he’s capable of handling it. His work ethic is crazy. I never have to worry about him putting in the extra work. He’s just an all-around athlete with a drive that is good to see in a high schooler. He just has an it factor that helps him go out and produce.”
A position that will have a new player starting this year is goalkeeper. Junior Jacob Amster will be stepping in at the role handled admirably by Kaeden Pekarcik, who is now plying his trade at Florida Southern College.
“I think (Jacob) is just as talented and just as ready to take the stage,” coach Hodder said of his new starting goalkeeper. “He’s gotten a lot of playing time for us at the JV level the last two years and plays a lot of summer lacrosse as well. He’s highly capable of stepping in himself and I think he’ll be a major factor in our success this year.”
Another key player is expected to be senior defenseman Dylan McCaffrey, who has been starting since his sophomore year.
“He’s a lefty, so that helps with a lot of righty attackers,” coach Hodder explained. “He’s a long, lanky, rangy defender who can cover space pretty well. He’s going to be really key for us down low.”
Others expected to contribute include senior midfielder Tyler Goldstein, junior Griffin McCaffrey (Dylan’s brother), who can be used either as an attacker or a midfielder, and junior Brady Matthews, who also can slot in as an attacker and midfielder. Plus, the lineup will be bolstered by the return of senior defenseman Trip Goehring, who missed last season with a torn ACL.
“Those are the guys who have shown they have really high ceilings,” coach Hodder said. “Those are the guys we’re looking at to take some leadership roles and get after it.”
Coach Hodder said a key to taking the next step is playing together.
“This is going to be a year where we’re going to have to have levels of scoring,” he said. “We’re not going to be able to have one guy be the guy. We’re going to have to have multiple guys be able to find a way to score. We’re going to need Tucker to have a big year and continue to grow, but we’re going to need everyone else to fill in the spaces that have left and find their way. Defensively, we’re going to have to communicate. It’s really going to come down to focusing on doing the little things and giving ourselves the best chance to compete.”
