McKenzie’s faceoff prowess spurred run to final
UNIVERSITY PARK — Reaching the level of sustained success that defines Mars boys lacrosse requires players to know and embrace their roles.
Jack McKenzie is a prime example for the Planets.
Listed on the team’s roster as a midfielder, he has, in fact, excelled as a faceoff specialist.
This season, he won nearly 80 percent of the faceoffs he took, helping the Planets (22-3) win a seventh consecutive district title and reach the PIAA final for the third straight year.
His effort earned McKenzie All-WPIAL recognition and All-American honors from U.S. Lacrosse.
“First off, Jack is a very hard worker,” said Mars assistant coach Kyle Savage, who saw his share of faceoff battles while playing in high school and college in Virginia. “He has very quick reflexes, is faster than normal and is a technician.”
McKenzie, a junior this season who has verbally committed to play at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, began working in earnest at his craft in the eighth grade.
“I had a friend on the team, (current defenseman) Cole Yoshioka. His dad told me I could become really good at taking faceoffs if I worked at it,” McKenzie said. “Up to that point, I had taken a few, but that’s when I started to really focus on it.
“I worked throughout COVID to get better and ended up taking a lot of faceoffs as a freshman.”
Senior Ian Edinger was also effective in the role this year, but McKenzie’s success “opened things up for us to play Ian on the wing,” Savage explained.
And as McKenzie can attest, talented wings are a faceoff guy’s best friends on the field. Edinger played on his right this season and Dom Caldwell was on the left.
“If I win the faceoff, those are the first guys I look to pass the ball to,” said McKenzie. “If the ball comes free, the wings are often the first players to have a chance at it.
“Some (faceoff) guys like to guess when the whistle is going to come. I don’t do that, but I react to it and I’m fast. I’m not the biggest guy (5-foot-8, 150 pounds), but you don’t have to have a lot of size if you’re fast.”
Many times this season, the Planets were able to maintain momentum in games by scoring a goal and having McKenzie do his thing to get the ball right back to his teammates.
“Possession is everything,” said Savage. “It’s awesome having a guy who can consistently win faceoffs and Jack is laser-focused.”
McKenzie and his teammates left Penn State University on Saturday disappointed after losing to Marple Newtown, 11-10, in the state championship game. But his mind-set and the overall strength of the program points to more success in 2024.
“We have great coaches and we’re used to winning, but we know every game is a battle and we have to work for everything we get.”
