No matter the season he’s in, Matt Jeffries takes full advantage. It’s that attitude and work ethic that led to a Fed hockey 2016-17 New York State Championship, a standout 2017 lacrosse season, the 2017 Tom Borrelli “Ox” Award and Scholarship, and a place on the St. John Fisher College lacrosse roster next year for the Williamsville North dual-sport athlete.
Jeffries started playing hockey at age 3. He wanted to follow in his cousin’s footsteps even at a young age, and his parents were all for it.
Lacrosse didn’t come along until about 10 years later. Jeffries quit baseball and picked up a lacrosse stick in seventh grade.
“All my friends played lacrosse, and they told me to try out for the team,” Jeffries explained.
And so, it was hockey and lacrosse that carried Jeffries through his high school sports career. He was a defenseman in hockey and enjoyed the physicality and pace of the game.
“What I love about hockey is how fast-paced it is,” Jeffries said. “Every couple seconds, something’s going on, so that’s what I love about it most.”
He was a leader for the Spartans on the ice, totaling two goals and seven assists in 16 league games and anchoring the defense. In the New York State semifinals vs. Mamaroneck, the No. 1 ranked large school in the state, Jeffries and his fellow defensemen held the Tigers to just 13 shots in a 1-0 Williamsville North win.
The Spartans went on to defeat Section V rival Pittsford to end many of their hockey careers in the best way possible — well, almost.
“That was just amazing,” Jeffries said. “That was perfect. There’s no other way I would want to go out — obviously winning a Stanley Cup, but a state championship’s pretty close.”
While that was the obvious highlight, just the everyday routine of practicing with his friends might be Jeffries’ favorite memory.
“Just coming to practice every day is the best,” Jeffries said. “Just seeing the boys.”
And he made sure to thank the coaches who contributed to his hockey career and led his team to a State Championship to finish it off.
“I was really fortunate to have great coaches growing up, even when I finished my career with Bob [Rosen],” Jeffries said. “I’d just like to say thanks to them because they’ve been really awesome.”
Just like every year, when hockey ended, it was time for lacrosse. Each year, hockey helps Jeffries prepare and condition for lacrosse season.
“Playing defense in hockey benefited me in lacrosse because when you ride, it’s basically the same thing,” Jeffries said. “I would have a lot of caused turnovers; I think I was second or third on my team in caused turnovers as an attackman, so that was probably what benefited me the most from hockey. And after hockey season, I was pretty well conditioned for lacrosse.”
The only difference this year is that Jeffries will spend far more time on the lacrosse field in the future than he will on the ice.
“This past year after hockey was done and I kinda realized that I wasn’t gonna play hockey anymore after high school, I started focusing on lacrosse more,” Jeffries explained. “And usually, I like the sport that’s in season. If I’m in hockey season, I like hockey more. But if I’m in lacrosse season, I like lacrosse more.”
Jeffries feels that he’s better at lacrosse, and while a direct comparison might be difficult, he had his share of success for North. In his senior year, Jeffries totaled 49 goals and 21 assists. Hard work led to his 70 points and high number of caused turnovers, and he feels that hard work leads to more success in lacrosse than it does in hockey.
“I just like how if you work as hard as you want, you can see success,” Jeffries explained. “If you want to go get a goal, you can just dodge and get a goal. Hockey, it’s a little more difficult. I was a little better at lacrosse too.”
Jeffries’ hard work was noticeable enough to earn him the Tom Borrelli “Ox” Award and Scholarship, presented by the Buffalo News to one senior boy and one senior girl lacrosse player each year “who display talent, versatility, hard work, dedication, and toughness.”
“It was extremely humbling, just to be recognized as one of the best in Western New York and one of the most hardworking in Western New York,” Jeffries said. “It was pretty cool, so I was really honored to win that.”
His plans to play college lacrosse began to take shape last summer, and St. John Fisher was already on Jeffries’ list for its business program, opportunities after college, and, in Jeffries’ words, “they have really good food.”
“Over the summer, my coach texted me and said, ‘Do you want to play lacrosse in college?'” Jeffries explained. “I was already looking at St. John Fisher because my sister went there. Pretty much all the schools that I was applying to had a lacrosse team to play for, so I just emailed all the coaches. They got back to me, and I just picked which one I wanted to go to.”
As its been for several Western New York athletes over the past year, mono was an obstacle that Jeffries recently had to overcome as he’s been working to stay in lacrosse shape leading up to college.
“I was working really hard, but then I got mono, so I had to stop doing everything,” he said. “The past couple weeks have been tough, but I’m getting back in the swing of things. I’ll just work really hard and try to win a spot on the Fisher lacrosse team.”
Jeffries made sure to thank Andy Behm, the lacrosse coach he had for his junior and senior seasons at Williamsville North as well who not only coached his lacrosse team but helped Jeffries to realize and achieve his goal of playing at the next level.
“He’s been pretty much everything and the reason that I’m playing after high school, so big thanks to him,” Jeffries said.
All photos courtesy of Jim Tracy. Used with permission.Â