This 2013 Team of Honor is actually two teams from a storied high school athletic program- the 1983 and 1984 West Genesee Boys Lacrosse teams under the direction of legendary Hall of Fame Coach Mike Messere.
 

Coaches Messere and Bob Deegan led these two teams to an overall 43-1 record and felt that  players on these teams exemplified what lacrosse teamwork is all about..  The1983 Wildcats won the State Championship with a 20-0 record, while the “84 stickmen went 23-1 – losing in the State Championship to Yorktown by a single goal.  
 

Eight players from the 1983 team went on to gain collegiate lacrosse All-America honors, while ten members of the ’84 team also attained collegiate All-America status – including five team members who were multiple-time All-Americans and played on both the ’83 and ’84 teams.  Several members of both teams went on to captain the college teams, became successful coaches, and played professional lacrosse.
 

Some of the of the many remarkable individual accomplishments of members of these teams include: Todd Curry and Pat  Donahue (1983 co-captains) were both high school All-Americans; 1984 co-captain Jim McNamara was also a high school All-American along with teammates Phil Willard and John Zulberti; Todd Curry was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2009, played on USA World Lacrosse teams in ’86, ’90 and ’94 and was inducted into the Upstate New York Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2002 and into the Baltimore Hall of Fame in 2008; John Zulberti (who played on both the ’83 and ’84 teams) was the NCAA DI Attackman on the Year in 1988-89; Tom Gravante (both teams) was the NCAA DIII Player of the Year in 1988, was the DIII Attackman of the Year in 1988-89, and was the NCAA DIII championship game MVP in 1988.

From 1981 through 1984, the West Genesee Lax program won 91 consecutive games and during an unprecedented 6-year run in the 1980’s, West Genesee boasted a record of 133-1.
 

Please join us in congratulating the 1983-1984 West Genesee Boys Lacrosse Team as the 2013 Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame Team of Honor.