The Mountaineers finished off a Mid-West swing recently and the play of a couple of brothers from West Virginia have propelled the Mountaineers to a 3-1 start on the season.
Both bothers have earned national recognition for their efforts over the recent stretch. Senior Attackman Jerett Gaeger was named to the Warrior Honor Roll as one of the top attackmen in the nation. Sophomore goaltender Jack Gaeger was named to the PEARL Honor Roll as one of the top goalies in the nation!
The first game of the year was at home vs. Tennessee on Sunday February 12th. The Mountaineers took a commanding lead into the half against the Volunteers 7-2. They ended up coming up a bit short in the end falling to Tennessee 11-9.
After that lose the Mountaineers found their stride and went on a three-game winning streak. They took a Mid-West road trip that started off with a game vs. Indiana in Bloomingdale. The Mountaineers reached down deep and pulled off an Overtime 11-10 victory in that one on Friday February 24th.
The Mountaineers followed that win up with another W the very next day against Illinois in Champaign. Winning that game 14-12 on Saturday February 25th.
They wrapped up the weekend road-trip with yet another victory over Purdue in Noblesville, IN 17-9 on Sunday February 26th.
As you can see from the dates and locations of these games it was a long and grueling road trip. Three games in three days, bouncing back and forth from state to state in the middle on the country is no easy task for any team, even more so for a lacrosse team. The game of lacrosse does require a lot of conditioning as there is a great deal of running and the play is often times very physical. Blood, bumps, bruises, and more is usually par for the course in this game.
During that recent road trip Jerett Garger (16) had an amazing 12 points in three games. 3 of those points were from goals he scored himself. Jerett also added an amazing 9 assists in those three games as well. One of Jerett’s goals happened to be the game winner in overtime vs. Indiana. Jerett currently leads the Mountaineers with a total of 15 points. Looking at the stats I would assume Jerett found teammates and fellow attackmen Will Stone and Brock Altlan, both juniors. Stone leads the team with 11 goals and Atland is next in line with goals 7 scored. Currently, Jerett is third on the team in goals scored with 6. This goes to show you the unselfishness of his play. I am sure this is one of the reasons he was named to the Warrior Honor Roll as one of the top attackmen in the nation last week!
As for his brother, Jack Garger (92), he was also on fire this past weekend as well. Jack has an amazing save percentage of over 70% so far on the year including the fall scrimmages is just plain getting it done. A 70% save percentage is very good in lacrosse as some players at the college level can shoot well over 100 mph and be mere feet from the goal. If you never felt a lacrosse ball I will tell you they are not soft by any means. It takes a special person to stand in that crease. Jack’s performance this past weekend had him with 22 saves against Indiana on Friday and only giving up 10 goals. Then on Sunday against Purdue Jack had 19 saves and only gave up 9 to the Boilermakers. This earned him national recognition being named to the PEARL Honor Roll as one of the top goalies in the nation last week!
Jack will be the first to tell you that a goalie cannot do this alone and that credit must go out the defensive play of the Mountaineers. The defense is led by defensive coordinator Dale Marcot, a former WVU lacrosse player himself. Jacob Stamm could arguably be considered the best pole on the team. Jacob went to high school in Cheasapeake, MD. Other notable defenders to mention are Sean Kenworthy, Tim Geiser, and David Colangelo. Sean, from New Jersey, also serves as the teams Vice-President. Jack also wanted to us mention the two short stick midfield defenders Michael Murphy and Mikail Bajwa as they both make his life much easier.
This says so much about these two young men, as the lacrosse competition across the country is at such a premier level these days. To be mention as one of the best in the country people should take notice. In fact, you would serve yourself well by attending one of the Mountaineer’s lacrosse games. Lacrosse is a fast paced, normally high scoring game that has a very physical nature. It is an absolute blast to watch.
When speaking with Jack he really wanted to mention how proud he was of the growth of this team from last year to this year and how excited he is for the future of this program.
The Mountaineers have another road trip this weekend coming up as they visit both James Madison and the North Carolina State Friday March 3rd and Saturday March 4th respectively. The Mountaineers finally return home take on Liberty, Sunday March 26th at 12:00 pm.
This is WVU’s 53rd season playing lacrosse. WVU is led by head Coach Brian Houk. Jeremy Bennett is the team’s offensive coordinator. Faceoff and Midfield coach is Aaron Hood. Strength and condition coach is Ryan Leibreich. WVU’s faculty advisor is Jim Mills.
WVU is an MCLA D1 program. There are about 80 MCLA D1 programs nationwide. They are all of the power 5 schools that do not have varsity lacrosse, YET! The team has a schedule that is very similar to varsity NCAA programs. WVU plays is the Atlantic Lacrosse Conference. That league has 2 divisions.
ALC North
WVU
Pitt
Liberty
James Madison
Temple
ALC South
Virginia Tech
Tennessee
NC State
East Carolina
Clemson
Both Jerettt and Jack are from West Virginia, as mentioned. Sons of Jere and Jamie Gaeger of Charleston. They attended George Washington High School. In fact, I even had the pleasure, or displeasure, of coaching against them myself. They are both outstanding young men, and such good athletes that they make you whisper not nice things under your breath as an opposing coach.
I did reach out to their former high school coach, Brad White. Coach White had nothing but fantastic things to say about both young men. Pointing out that Jerett was an All-American at GW. Coach White also follows both of these young men relentlessly as they are continuing their lacrosse careers at WVU. When speaking with Coach White you can just tell how proud of these two he is. Keep up the great work guys! Let’s Go… Mountaineers!
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