Patriot League All-American Craig Chick talks goals and accomplishments

Senior leader and two-time Patriot League All-American Craig Chick has been a force to be reckoned with throughout his lacrosse career.

Since the start of the season, Chick has been named Patriot League Player of the Week for a standout effort of 19 caused turnovers on Feb. 2 in Lehigh’s game versus NJIT. 

“It was nice, but it was more of a feeling to win the game,” Chick said. “We’ve only had one win this season, so we are looking to get more wins.”

Men’s lacrosse coach Kevin Cassese said he believes that Chick was immensely deserving of the award because he puts in “100 percent effort, 100 percent of the time.”

Cassese said Chick has drastically improved his defensive skills over the last four years and has become one of Lehigh’s greatest lacrosse defenders and leaders. Chick is responsible for stopping the opposing team’s best player while organizing and commanding the other five defensive players on the field.

“The biggest thing we have worked on with Craig is his leadership. He’s one of the very best defensive players in Lehigh lacrosse program history, and he’s also developing into one of the best leaders in Lehigh lacrosse program history,” Cassese said. 

All the hard work on the field has put Chick in a position to break the Patriot League record with the most caused turnovers by any player. Chick has 36 more to go before he becomes the sole record holder.

Although this monumental accomplish is approaching, he has not given much thought to it.

“I haven’t spent much time thinking about it,” Chick said. “Being senior year, I want to do everything I can to help the team win a Patriot League title. That’s the only thing on my mind.” 

Chick’s goal coming into the season was to keep his legs fresh and in shape and he credits all the conditioning programs from the fall for helping keep that aim possible.

As the final days of his career are approaching, he also hopes that he can add to his trophy case and the team’s with a Patriot League Championship.

“My main goal is to win a Patriot League Championship,” Chick said. “Everything after that is icing on the cake.”

Fellow senior Eddie Bouhall said he has seen continuous personal growth from Chick over the last four years, which has led him to be the team’s captain.

“I’ve known Craig (Chick) for four years, he’s been a great friend,” Bouhall said. “He’s really calm and cool and I’ve seen his leadership expand throughout that time. This year especially, Craig (Chick)’s leadership has expanded and is the reason our defense is successful.”

The Lehigh men’s lacrosse team is hoping to return to the Patriot League championship game for the second year in a row and hopes to win the championship.

The team will heavily rely on Chick’s leadership and defensive abilities in order to propel them to their first tournament championship and birth in the NCAA tournament since 2013.  

Although the expectations are high, the team is settled with a 1-2 record and Cassese does not want the team to think ahead, instead focusing on the remaining regular-season matchups.

“We are focused on the next game,” Cassese said. “Our mission is to win championships, and that’s always in the back of our minds, but right now it’s all about going 1-0 in the next game on the schedule.”