Boys Lacrosse: State title has Methlie at fever pitch

WEST GOSHEN >> When Zac Methlie woke up in a sweat Monday morning, he had no energy to get out of bed. Short of a season-ending injury, this was the Springfield defender’s worst nightmare come true. He was sick. It wasn’t something that a few tissues and cough drops could take care of, either. Methlie knew he might be dealing with the flu. Or, as it turned out, a nasty fever that overwhelmed every aching bone in his body. Not this, he thought. Not now. Methlie was too focused on helping Springfield capture its first PIAA boys lacrosse championship. The last thing he wanted to deal with was illness. It was the eve of the second-biggest game of his life, a semifinal against Strath Haven. He had to do whatever was necessary to be on the field, with his boys, and not let his ailing body hold him back.

“I had an upper respiratory infection … I had a fever of 102 (degrees) all week,” Methlie said. “Even during the Strath Haven game (Tuesday), I was sick. I was constantly spitting up and losing my breath. I couldn’t even get out of bed the last few days.”

He managed to get through the semifinal round … barely. If it was a nonleague game in late-March, perhaps Methlie would have told coach Tom Lemieux he needed to be in bed, eating chicken soup or something. But Methlie slowly improved as Tuesday night turned into Wednesday. He was perhaps 50 percent by Friday, he said, and when the alarm went off Saturday morning, the fever Methlie had been hampered with for six days had subsided. He wasn’t close to feeling 100 percent healthy; there was nothing he could do except wrap a cool towel around his neck and drink plenty of water and Gatorade.

And play.

Methlie piloted a formidable Springfield defense Saturday at West Chester East. Thanks to the gutsy play of Methlie, Pat Smyth and Pat Clemens, among others, the Cougars scratched out a 4-3 win over La Salle to claim their first PIAA state championship. “This morning I woke up, I felt better, but my legs just really weren’t there,” Methlie said. “When we first started today, I felt it. It was tough. My legs weren’t all there, but once we got the game going, I just kept on digging in and digging in and I just forgot about it. This was more important than anything.”

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