Gomez Provides Leadership, Gudiance to Lead Way for Younger Lacrosse Players

Beau Gomez was hoping for another shot at a lacrosse championship during his senior year at Wissahickon. Instead, Gomez led the way in building for the future.

A series of injuries along with key graduation losses turned the 2011 season into a rebuilding campaign for the Trojans. Instead of wondering what might have been, Gomez chose to look ahead and lead the way for his younger teammates.

“I had a great opportunity the last four years to play at Wissahickon,” said Gomez. “I had a lot of good players who I played with. I think defensively, we learned a lot. We got really good really fast.”

The Trojans finished 6-12 overall, but Gomez provided guidance as well as his usual high level of play on defense. Gomez led the team in ground balls with 101 and also added four goals and an assist. He finished with 268 career ground balls and 212 takeaways. 

Wissahickon head coach Anthony Gabriele was fortunate enough to have Gomez on his roster for four seasons and was thrilled with what his star defender contributed both on and off the field.

“Beau was a freshman the year I took over as head coach,” said Gabriele. “He was one of the better players when he came in. As a person, he was the right type of kid we needed to help turn the program around. When he spoke, everybody listened. He pushed the other kids to excel.”

With the loss of their top goalie to graduation and a host of preseason injuries, Gomez realized there would be growing pains at the start of the season.

“It was hard,” Gomez said. “We graduated our senior goalie, and with the injuries, it [was] just me and a whole new group of guys. It was hard adjusting the first few games, and I felt I was teaching a lot more. Towards the end of the year, we became a very good unit.”

Gomez was part of a program that had its share of success in recent years. He knew one of the biggest challenges this season would be installing a belief in the system to the newcomers. The result was a more confident group of Trojans as the season progressed.

“That’s the biggest part of this year,” said Gomez. “I think of the past four years. We were a really young team. We wouldn’t take ourselves out of game because we doubted our ability. We have a system we believe in. I think this group coming up next year is going to be a lot more confident.”

Gabriele would have loved to have seen Gomez get rewarded with a championship his senior year, but he was thrilled to see how Gomez took charge and kept the players together through the up and downs of the 2011 campaign.

“It was a tough season,” Gabriele said. “We were 6-12 overall, but the team never gave up. It wasn’t the senior season he envisioned, but there was a lot of growth on the team thanks to Beau’s leadership.”

Gomez’ days of playing lacrosse are far from over. He is heading to the Naval Academy next fall and will have the chance to play lacrosse in the spring. The Naval Academy has put together a strong Division I program, which included a Final Four appearance over the past decade.

Gomez is looking forward to heading to Annapolis, where he will also be able to carry on a strong family tradition.

“I’m so happy that I get a chance to play for such a storied program,” said Gomez. “But it wasn’t all about lacrosse. My family has big military background. That was always an option, and it’s awesome it worked out this way.”