By Miguel Rodriguez | August 4, 2020 | Reprinted from buffalonews.com
Boys lacrosse season did not happen for St. Joe’s due to the Covid-19 pandemic KO’ing high school sports in the spring.
But that failed to stop the Marauders from bestowing a huge team honor on senior-to-be Brian Nephew, who has been selected as the recipient of the program’s Paul Englert Junior Memorial Award.
The team presented Nephew with the award Tuesday at the Robert T. Scott Athletic Complex.
Englert was a three-year starting goalie for St. Joe’s who graduated in 2012 and moved on to the University at Buffalo. He died suddenly in September 2013 from a pulmonary embolism while on campus.
The award given out by the program is just one of the ways Englert’s memory has been kept alive by the team and his family.
“We feel that Brian represents everything that Paul represented,” St. Joe’s coach Peter Hudecki said of Nephew’s selection. “He’s a silent leader, focused student, enthusiastic lacrosse athlete, dedicated, diligent and determined. He’s filled with St. Joe’s spirit.”
Nephew was a reserve midfielder on a deep 2019 team that won the Monsignor Martin championship. He was expected to move into the starting lineup in 2020, but the coronavirus outbreak thwarted that.
However, he showed enough improvement during the offseason, mixed in with potential when he did get in games in 2019 to earn the award and the distinction of wearing Englert’s No. 23 during the 2021 season. Recently graduated standout Hunter Parucki was slated to wear No. 23 in the spring as last year’s recipient of the honor.
“I’m excited to be given this award because it will lead to me being a big leader,” Nephew said. “They (the coaches) trust me leading our team and trying to reach that goal of winning a state championship.”
