Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 10/4/21
From Press Release
Eight lacrosse greats – two from Philly – were formally inducted as the newest members of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame Saturday evening at The Grand Lodge in Hunt Valley, Maryland.
These inductees, officially considered the Class of 2020, had to wait an extra year to be recognized due to the pandemic-induced postponement of last year’s ceremony.
Three inductees – Laura Harmon Schuman (Haverford High), Joe Seivold, and Amy Appelt Slade – were officially welcomed as truly great players, while three others – Rob Bordley, John Desko, and Lisa Griswold Lindley – were inducted as truly great coaches, and two inductees – Roy Condon and Ericka Davidheiser Leslie (Spring-Ford) – were honored as truly great officials.
Schuman, Seivold, and Slade were all either three- or four-year college All-Americans, and all three captured NCAA championships during their collegiate careers.
Schuman, who won NCAA titles at Maryland in 1992 and 1995 and also played on the 1997 U.S. Women’s World Cup Team that captured the gold medal, noted the importance of teammates and coaches in achieving that level of success.
“I’m so thankful for all the incredible players that I played with at Maryland and on the U.S. Team, and the Hall of Fame coaches,” she said. “I was so fortunate for all the people that I played with and played for. They all really created the best version of me on the lacrosse field.”
Harmon Schuman was a three-time All-American for the Terps who ended her Maryland career ranked fourth all-time with 150 goals and sixth all-time with 184 points, both marks which still stand top-20 to this day. As a captain on Maryland’s 1995 championship team, Harmon Schuman scored 38 goals and was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team. As a freshman during the Terps 1992 championship run, Harmon Schuman tallied three goals in the championship game against Harvard.
The Havertown native would go on to play for the US National Team, helping them win the 1997 World Cup and was selected to the ACC 50th Anniversary Lacrosse Team in 2002. Harmon Schuman also played field hockey at Maryland, leading them to the 1993 National Championship. In 2010, Harmon Schuman was inducted into the Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame.
As a women’s official, Leslie is also no stranger to NCAA championship play, having earned her way to the Division I finals weekend for 13 straight years. She is universally recognized as one of the elite officials of the past 20 years and has become one of the most respected officials among both colleagues and coaches. That respect was on display Saturday evening as nearly two dozen of her fellow “zebras” were in attendance to celebrate her induction.
“Officiating, for me, is about remaining to be involved in a game that I love,” Leslie said. “I love watching the progress that the game has made and watching what the women in the game today are able to do. I just think it’s amazing, and I love being a part of that group that still gets to participate on the field.”
Leslie, a two-time lacrosse All-American while playing with Old Dominion in the mid-’90s, will be entering the Hall of Fame as one of the greatest lacrosse officials the sport has ever seen. She has been an official at 12 straight NCAA Division I women’s finals weekends, working either the national semifinals or the finals, dating back to 2008. Additionally, she served as the head official in six of those contests.
As a member of ODU, Leslie earned first team All-American honors and was named an Academic All-American in both the 1994 and the 1995 seasons. In 1995, she was given the Old Dominion University Alumni Association Female Athlete of the Year Award after helping to lead ODU to its first Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship.
At the time of her graduation, Leslie ranked fourth all-time at Old Dominion with 119 career points, fourth all-time in goals scored with 79 and second in assists with 40. A four-time All-CAA selection, she was inducted into the ODU Hall of Fame in 2003.
This will be the third hall of fame ceremony where the former Monarch will be celebrated, as she was also inducted into the US Lacrosse Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter Hall of Fame in 2017.
Off the field, Leslie works as a US Lacrosse rules interpreter, an officials’ subcommittee member, a clinician and a rater. She also is an active member and has multiple roles with the Collegiate Women’s Lacrosse Officiating Association.
The National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, a program of USA Lacrosse, was established in 1957 to honor men and women who by their deeds as players, coaches, officials and/or contributors, and by the example of their lives, personify the great contribution of lacrosse to our way of life. Since its inception, 450 lacrosse greats have been recognized in the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame & Museum, which is located at USA Lacrosse Headquarters in Sparks, Maryland
.
