When Eric Sopracasa passed away in May 1999 it sent shockwaves through the lacrosse community, especially on his native Long Island.
It had been a routine practice for the Massachusetts Minutemen when the Sachem alum from the Class of 1995 was hit in the chest with a lacrosse ball and died from cardiac arrest. His memory still lives on strong at Sachem and UMass. The Minutemen to this day still wear No. 43 on their helmets. Sachem’s lacrosse trophy case in the gym lobby at North has a plaque to remember one of their most dedicated and gifted athletes.
And thanks to Efosa Guobadia, a recent UMass alum from 2007, you can honor “Soup” with a new Minutemen lacrosse shirt that says “43 Forever” on it. Guobadia, who launched GorillaLax.com to sell the shirts, also began a campaign via social media called “Soup Around the World,” where people can send in photos of themselves wearing the “43 Forever” shirt on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Sopracasa was an All-American and captain during his senior year at Sachem in 1995, the same year the Flaming Arrows won a Suffolk County and Long Island championship and lost in the state finals. He was a three-year starting defensive middie at UMass when he passed.
In a letter written on GorillaLax.com, Guobadia said UMass coaches Greg Cannella and Chris Gabrielli would talk about him their words were often laced with emotion.
“His former teammates share stories about him with a proud steel in their eyes,” he said. “We have all seen videos of him and have seen him play with a fire that burns so hot that it is felt beyond the screen and we take note of a passion that is so real and so raw that it inspires us even unto this day. I think about him often and I suspect that you all do as well. He is still leading us today even though we weren’t all honored with the chance to run and play with him on Garber Field.”
Guobadia took a trip to Peru and later saw a photo of himself wearing the “43 Forever” shirt.
“It hit me very suddenly and very hard that not only was I on the Amazon, but Soup was there as well,” he wrote. “It hit me that Soup never had the chance to see or visit some of the places in the world that he could have. What if we all collectively had a shirt that honored him and as we travelled around our town, our state, the country or the world we snapped pictures and shared it with each other?”
A plaque in the gym lobby at Sachem North reads:
An athlete in every definition of the word. As a member of the 1995 Sachem lacrosse team your incomparable determination inspired us all. The achievements we reached were outweighed by the friendships we built. The memories of that story book season will cherish in our hearts forever. With your incredible desire to succeed you affected everyone you were around. Sachem lacrosse players and players throughout the country will remember you as a true hero of the game. We will never forget you.
Newsday story from 1999 about Soup’s death
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro