By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 7/13/10
He was double-teamed, triple-teamed and game-planned by coaches more than any player in the Philadelphia area.
Lower Merion senior attackman Jordan Wolf was indeed a marked man in 2010, and yet was so difficult to stop.
This year Wolf, who earned US Lacrosse All-America and starred at the recent Under Armour All-American Game with three goals, tallied 73 goals this season despite constant attention. Interestingly, he
did not even lead his team in goals because his passing skills and presence helped teammate Andrew Mongeluzzi finish second in the Philadelphia area with 76 tallies.
Make no mistake – Wolf is the quintessential attackman. He combines great quickness and smooth moves with an awesome array of dodges and a hard shot along with the toughness and fearlessness to take the hits from top defensemen. A four-year starter, Wolf finished his career with 183 goals while establishing school records for career points (332) and assists (149). He also set a school record for points this year with 115.
“Jordan was probably the single most game-planned player for in the area over the past three years, yet he always found a way to be productive,” said Lower Merion coach Chet Laubach.
“Jordan is also a very unselfish player and was equally effective as an assist man on top of being a great goal scorer. Because of his ability to create offense and unselfish play, our team offense has been able to be very productive over his career.”
Breaking scoring records at perennial power Lower Merion is a major accomplishment. In fact, Wolf bested the scoring marks of the legendary John Christmas, who also happens to be the man who has coached him the longest, starting at Ashbee Youth and all the way through his high school career as an assistant coach and 1-on-1 instructor.
For his accomplishments, Wolf – who will head to NCAA Division I champion Duke University in the fall – has been named the Phillylacrosse.com Co-Player of the Year.
“John has been a mentor to me and beating his records is an honor,” Wolf said of Christmas, who this year moved to Penn as a volunteer assistant. “He taught me to be a competitor and always to compete every time I touch the field.
“Aside from the fundamentals – shooting and other skills – the most important I learned from him was a work ethic.”
Christmas, a three-time All-American at Lower Merion who later was an All-American at Virginia and now plays for the Philadelphia Wings, said that Wolf has an innate desire to excel that cannot be taught.
“Jordan’s confidence is the key to his success,” Christmas said. “Jordan doesn’t think anyone can guard him – bottom line. He doesn’t fear anyone, but he’s smart enough to respect his opponents.
“He plays hard all the time, which in turn makes his teammates play hard as well. They don’t want to let him down. His eyes and feeding ability are second to none.
“He cuts on crazy angles and he’s not afraid of getting to the middle of the field – which increases his scoring opportunities tremendously. He can take a hit and never shies away from contact.”
Christmas was not surprised to see Wolf break his records.
“I knew Jordan was going to break my record the first game I saw him play at LM,” he said. “His growth has been tremendous, starting with his work in the weight room.
“His outside shot has improved, which has in turn helped his dodging. Now, defensemen can’t sit back. At Duke they will teach him to make the game easier for himself.”
This year Wolf – who also starred for the Duke’s Lacrosse Club – helped the Aces finish 14-10 and place fifth in the District 1 tournament despite an 0-5 start. Lower Merion was knocked out of the state tournament in the first round by Emmaus – the same team that ended the Lower Merion in 2009 at states.
In that season, Wolf played with a torn hamstring all year and was admittedly not himself. But he recovered this year and helped the Aces enjoy an excellent second half of the season by going 10-3 over the final four weeks.
“It was a tough season at the beginning since we started 0-5, but the team came together and we did accomplish a lot to get back to states,” Wolf said. “I would have loved to have won a couple more games, but I was happy with the finish.”
Tomorrow: The other Male co-Player of the Year for 2010
Yesterday: Female Player of the Year Kelyn Freedman of Radnor
Past Phillylacrosse.com Players of the Year
2009 – Tucker Durkin (La Salle, defenseman)
2008 – Niko Amato (La Salle, goalie)
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