By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 12/25/23
Michael Friel has been recommended for the position of head boys’ lacrosse coach at three-time defending PIAA 3A champion Radnor, pending school board approval on Jan. 23.
Friel posted an 8-year record of 112-48 at Springfield-Delco from 2003-2010. He won Central League championships in 2005 and 2010 and was the 2010 EPSLA Coach of the Year, and 2010 Central League Coach of the Year. He also served as head coach of the Philadelphia Under Armor All-Star lacrosse team and the EPSLA Junior All-Star Coach.
A Ridley High and Cabrini University grad, Friel came to Radnor in 2010 as the school’s Athletic Director and was an assistant coach from 2012 to 2019 at Radnor under former head coach John Begier. Begier retired last month after guiding the Raptors to four PIAA Class AAA championships while earning National Coach of the Year in 2022.
Friel played four years at Cabrini and was an assistant coach for 3 years under former Cavaliers coach and Hall of Famer Steve Colfer.
During his four years at Cabrini, Friel tallied 95 goals and 90 assists. During his senior season, he helped Cabrini win the Eastern College Athletic Conference championship, the first title in program history.
Interestingly, Friel’s former team, Springfield-Delco, is expected to be a major challenger for the defending champs in their quest for a four-peat. Springfield – coached by Friel’s former assistant, Tom Lemieux – defeated Radnor in the District 1 final last spring, 10-8. But in the state final, Radnor toppled Springfield, 8-1.
In the 2010 season, Friel’s Springfield-Delco (20-3) squad was ranked No. 1 in the state for weeks and entered the District 1 tourney as the top seed after edging Conestoga, 4-3, in overtime to clinch the Central League crown and defeating two-time defending state champion La Salle in the regular season. But Conestoga – the eventual state champion – toppled Springfield-Delco in the District 1 final and La Salle knocked the Cougars out in the state quarterfinals.
