By: Jillian Schumacher
Lacrosse at Syracuse University is a long-standing tradition dating back to 1916.
Since then, the Orange have won 15 national championship titles and have made 39 tournament appearances.
That tradition has led various players to become professional athletes, and many compete in World Lacrosse field and box championships.
Twenty-five percent of this year’s Haudenosaunee team in the World Lacrosse Box Championships are either former or current players for the Syracuse Orange.
Syracuse’s Jeremy Thompson, Randy Staats, Cody Jamieson, Warren Hill, Trey Deere, and Brendan Bomberry are all competing for the Haudenosaunee box lacrosse team.
The World Lacrosse Box Championship has been held in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, and 2024.
In those first five meetings, the Haudenosaunee team earned a spot to compete in the gold medal game.
Trey Deere, a Syracuse lacrosse sophomore on the Haudenosaunee team, says Syracuse has prepared him to play with professional athletes in games like these.
“This is a great testament to what we do at Syracuse and how we handle ourselves, and it just gets us ready,” Deere said.
Since being in Utica, Deere says he has learned a lot from other players on his team and is excited to translate what he has learned here to his spring season at Syracuse.
“Playing against the best, playing with the best, you know, it all translates over, and I hopefully take that, I look to take that to the spring,” Deere said.
His team will compete in the bronze medal game against England after falling short by one goal to Team USA in the semifinals.
Sixteen of the Haudenosaunee goals leading up to this bronze medal match have come from Staats, Deere, and Jamieson.
“Anytime I can represent my people on a world stage is amazing, and there’s really no words to describe that feeling,” Deere said.