Jake Dziergowski, who netted his 100th goal this March, will join his brother on the Gwynedd Mercy University Griffins lacrosse team.
By Krista Cerminaro
Jake Dziergowski is making strides. Not only is he the second Washington Township High School varsity boys lacrosse player in Minutemen history to join the century club in goals scored, the senior will continue his career at Gwynedd Mercy University, where he’ll play alongside his older brother, Jordan.
Dziergowski joined the century club on March 31, in a game that led to a 13–6 victory.
“We were playing West Deptford — and we don’t take anyone lightly — so it was just like any other game, going into it,” Dziergowski explained. “I didn’t score in the first quarter, but we got out to a good, solid lead and we were winning — so I felt good. And then, second quarter, I remember dodging, and I switched to my left hand, shot and scored — and it was kind of just pure bliss.”
Dziergowski said he’s humbled to have accomplished the milestone and is eager to join his brother as a Gwynedd Mercy Griffin.
“He’s older than me, so we never really got to experience playing together until my freshman year and his senior year of high school. We only got one year, and that year was fantastic — I feel like we just have a natural connection,” Dziergowski said. “We know almost where we’re going to be, so getting back to playing with him again in college, it’ll be really fun.”
The brothers discovered their passion for the game when Dziergowski was in first grade, and his older brother — a WTHS alumni and graduate of the class of 2015 — was in fourth.
“Not only do you enjoy watching him play — he’s the type of guy that, between the goals and assists, makes other people better around him. As a coach, it’s just a good feeling to know that you have someone who you can give the ball to,” head coach Joshua Hanlon said.
Hanlon, who’s coached Dziergowski since his junior year, said the team’s overall chemistry is apparent.
“We have good chemistry. We have a lot of talent here, so we really think that we’ll be able to put things together towards the second half of the season, [and] make a run to the playoffs again like we did last year,” Hanlon said. “The team, the culture, the energy that you play with, the passion you play with — we feel that that’s more important than X’s and O’s. But on the field, at the same time, you have to be able to execute some of the X’s and O’s, and we’ve struggled a little bit with that recently, so we’re trying to really clean that type of stuff up.”
“We’re a really solid team — our record may not really show that,” Dziergowski said. “We kind of struggle when we’re trying to clear the ball, but we’re definitely working to better ourselves in that aspect of the game.”
Dziergowski’s main goals are to finish his high school career just as strong as he started, and as a team, to finally have the satisfaction of winning the Gloucester County Cup.
“We got off to a really quick start — we started playing really well. As of late, we’ve been kind of stumbling a little bit. We have a really competitive conference, so every game can go either way,” Hanlon said. “Unfortunately, we’ve come out on the losing side of a couple games, but we’re pretty confident that we have half a season left ahead of us.”
