Lacrosse is spreading like wildfire in the West, and New Mexico is finally starting to catch. The Santa Fe Lacrosse scene is gaining momentum behind a legitimate high school program, known as Wolverines Lacrosse, which separated from Santa Fe Prep in 2022.
The Santa Fe Lacrosse Organization runs several youth teams from U-10 through U-14 for both boys and girls. While there are only four high school teams in the New Mexico Lacrosse Association (NMLA), the Wolverines travel out of state several times a year to play teams from Arizona, Colorado, and sometimes Texas.
The teams currently in the NMLA high school division are Duke City (ABQ), Rio Rancho, Los Alamos, and Santa Fe.
The majority of players on the Wolverines’ roster are from Santa Fe High. These student-athletes include Kiefer Fitzgerald, Greely Miller, Casey Forester, Louis Herndon, Derek Darby, Austin Marion, Thomas Heikkero, Joaquin Kuchta, MJ Hutton, Jossue Mendez, Luca Jameson, Chase Garcia, Rhys Goodman, and Quinn Seward.
The Wolverines have played four league games and four out-of-state games, as of May 2. The out-of-state games included matchups against a Colorado Springs team and three Phoenix and Tucson area teams.
In their league season home opener against rival Rio Rancho, the Wolverines came back from a multi-goal deficit to bring the game within one score when the lights went out at Salvador Perez Field. Because of NMLA rules, the win was given to Rio Rancho and not resumed at a later date.
The Wolverines were victorious in their next game, beating Los Alamos on April 10, at home, 13-1.
The next day, they pulled out a 9-4 away win against Duke City, who up until this year have been the team to beat in the NMLA.
In the rematch against Rio Rancho, on April 18, Finley Dordreau whipped home an overtime winner, giving the Wolverines a 12-11 comeback win and revenge for the loss earlier in the season.
“We are catching our stride and finding our balance as a team,” senior Louis Herndon said.
The seniors on the team have done a good job directing the younger players. The Wolverines have leaned on recent graduate Keenan Downey, who along with being the best faceoff player in the state, has helped the less experienced players. Greely, another senior leader, has seven goals as a defensive player, which is unusually high. Louis, also a senior, has had 15 goals in the four league games. Finally, Kiefer, as goalie, is the the backbone of the team, keeping them in games and giving them a chance to win every game.
