The Taylor lacrosse season has finally entered conference play, where they compete in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC). The conference sports four of the top 10 teams in the nation: No. 1 Madonna, No. 3 Aquinas and No. 7 Indiana Tech, along with No. 9 Taylor.
All that talent brings a lot of scoring. But one Trojan’s job is to stop those shots. His name is Ben Harrell.
Harrell, a junior, sits as the all-time leader in saves for the program with 467. Despite his prowess as a goalie, he didn’t start out this way.
Harell also didn’t start out as a goalie, but as a midfielder. He said most lacrosse beginners start in the midfield position.
“I started out as a midfielder with a short stick in my hand,” he said. “And then in my freshman year of high school I was actually a d-pole (defensive pole). I didn’t start playing goalie until after COVID.”
Since lacrosse did not have a strong footing in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, he traveled in order to play.
He and other friends in the area carpooled together for middle school practice.
“Lacrosse wasn’t always really a big thing where I’m from,” Harrell said. “But we had friends in Columbus where lacrosse is some of the best lacrosse in the country. It sparked something in me and I really wanted to play.”
A senior on the team was set to play goalie before the pandemic cancelled the season. Harrell, a freshman at the time, took it upon himself to teach himself the goalie position by watching videos of Jack Concannon, an all-star goalie in the Premier Lacrosse League.
Another abnormal aspect of Harrell’s training involved his sister helping him practice by shooting on him in their backyard.
“I didn’t own a goalie stick,” Harrell said. “I would have my sister shoot at me, and I would try to save the shot with a short stick, and I think that really helped me because I didn’t know it at the time, but it’s actually a really good drill for goalies.”
After his high school career, it was time for Harrell to decide where to continue his academic and athletic careers. Taylor was always on his mind, because the majority of his family attended the school.
Harrell reached out to Taylor head coach Chad Newhard first, expressing his interest in the lacrosse program. Newhard then attended one of Harrell’s club lacrosse tournaments and invited him for a visit.
“I got to a campus visit, met some teammates and I just loved the guys,” Harrell said. “There were other schools I was considering, but their players weren’t my favorite. They were guys I didn’t see myself being around.”
Once on campus, Harrell had an immediate impact on the program and has progressed each year. Harrell saved 161 shots in his freshman season and improved to 199 saves his sophomore season.
This season, he has 107 saves through seven games, giving him 15.3 saves per game with nine games left on the year. He is currently on pace to save nearly 250 shots on goal this season.
Off the field, Harrell is a joy to be around according to teammate, senior defenseman Lucas Pacer.
“He is probably one of the most genuine guys out there,” Pacer said. “In everything he does, he just wants to honor and glorify the Lord. When you have somebody like that off the field, it makes following him on the field way easier.”
