By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 10/27/19
Shane Taylor was a Catholic League MVP and a standout on perhaps Archbishop Ryan’s best team ever.
Now the 2015 Ryan grad has the task or rebuilding a program that struggled through a two-win season last year.
Just months after graduating from Widener, Taylor has been named the Archbishop Ryan head coach. He hopes he can return the program to its level just four seasons ago when the Raiders reached the league semifinals and finished third in the Catholic League regular season.
Taylor was a Third-Team All-Phillylacrosse.com pick in 2015 and earned a Division I spot at Wagner after setting school records for goals (210) and points (315). He left early in his freshman year after suffering a concussion and wanting to be close to home, so he transferred to Widener where he played two seasons before concussions ended his career.
Taylor – who credits his former Widener coaches, Brendan Dawson and Jamie Lockard as strong examples to model – has assisted with the Our Lady of Calvary middle school lacrosse program for four years and also has tutored many players in the Northeast Philly area. He has already assembled a coaching staff of former Ryan and college players that he feels will help lift the program back to its former level as a consistent playoff team.
“I played on some pretty good teams at Ryan and I want to see the program get back up to the level it was when we played,” said Taylor, who is a long-term substitute math teacher at Calvary. “I want the guys to see what it takes to be successful and with the coaching staff we have I think we have people who can show a good example. I feel like the players will buy in.
“We have a few good returning seniors. The short-term goal is to make the Catholic League playoffs and be competitive. Then we can build off that.”
