I
t was the last place Jack Brennan expected to be, and for a reason he could not fathom.
Four days before his collegiate lacrosse debut, Brennan, a freshman attackman at Maryland, was back home in upstate New York, mourning the death of the man who helped introduce him to the sport.
“He grew up playing lacrosse,” Brennan said of his uncle, Robert Knapp, who played lacrosse at Irondequoit High School and SUNY Potsdam. “When I was growing up, I know a big hope of his was for me to play. My brother was a baseball player, so I was one of the last boys to get the chance.”
Knapp, 46, died Jan. 23.
“Starting in third grade, he gave me my first two sticks,” Brennan said. “He was just the biggest supporter I had while also being my biggest critic. I’m thankful I had him for all that time.”
Days after the funeral, Brennan stepped on the field in College Park for his first regular season game in a Maryland uniform. Less than two minutes into the Feb. 1 opener, he buried a shot from a tough angle on the left side of the field. Moments later, he scored again, helping Maryland jump out to a 3-0 lead over High Point in a game it would eventually win 23-12.
“It’s been a tough couple of weeks for Jack Brennan,” Maryland coach John Tillman said in the press conference following the victory. “We feel for his family. These guys did a tremendous job of supporting him through a tough time. You’re a freshman, and you lose someone really close to you and a guy that helped introduce Jack to lacrosse. I think the support of the teammates was huge for Jack, because he looked confident today. Early in the game, he was not afraid to step in there.”