Sachem North’s Jay Mauro has left his post as the head boy’s lacrosse coach at Sachem High School North and was named as a volunteer assistant men’s lacrosse coach at Stony Brook University this week.
Mauro, who graduated from Sachem in 1999, will assist with coaching the defense and substitution box for the Seawolves. He will remain as a special education teacher at the high school and continue to coach football at Sachem East in the fall.
“After a lot of hard and thoughtful consideration I feel this is what is best for me as a person, coach and my family at this point in my career,” Mauro wrote in a letter to Sachem student-athletes, parents and administrators.
Paul Benway, who previously served as Mauro’s assistant will take over as head coach.
“I’m thrilled Jay has agreed to join our staff,” said Stony Brook coach Jim Nagle in a statement. “He brings a wealth of experience from the high school game and will help our student-athletes grow to their potential.”
Sachem has long been a powerhouse in boy’s lacrosse, and Mauro kept the playoff appearances and competitive balance alive during his 11-season tenure at the helm. The Flaming Arrows won 113 games and sent more than 80 student-athletes to play on the college program.
Mauro is not the first coach from Sachem to leave the high school ranks and move up to college. Michael Atkinson, a Sachem basketball coach, took a one-year sabbatical to coach men’s basketball at the University of Kentucky (the same year Duke’s Christian Laettner hit a now famous shot in the NCAA Tournament regional final). Dom Savino, also a basketball coach, retired from Sachem and coached at Adelphi University. Ralph Pepe, a lacrosse coach, spent time leading the men’s program at Southampton College, when it had an athletics program.
This marks yet another Sachem alum to join the college coaching ranks. Currently, Joe Amplo is the head coach at Marquette, Brian Brecht is the head coach at Rutger’s, and Terry Mangan is an assistant coach at St. John’s.
An All-American at Sachem as a student-athlete, Mauro played collegiately at Butler University and Dowling College, where he was also an All-American. He was also the first person to win an Empire State Games Gold Medal in boy’s lacrosse as a player, assistant coach and head coach for Team Long Island.
“Lacrosse has always been an important part of my life,” he said. “By coaching at the college level I hope to further my involvement and knowledge in lacrosse. Another great advantage for me is that it will allow me to increase the opportunities for Long Island lacrosse players. Thank you to all of the present and past members of the Sachem North Lacrosse family. It is because of the coaches, players, parents and community that Sachem North Lacrosse has earned respect as an honest, disciplined and persevering program.”
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro