Harford Community College men’s lacrosse won its third consecutive junior college championship in May to cap off a 14-0 season in which the Fighting Owls outscored opponents 295-117.
HCC has gone 71-6 since the beginning of the 2019 season. The Fighting Owls are led by Aaron Verardi, who recently completed his 11th year as head coach of the program. His vision has come together in the way he thought possible when he took over more than a decade ago.
“I think the infrastructure’s here. We have a blueprint of how things should work, starting at the beginning of the year until now. That’s what we’re following,” the coach said. “We’re just trying to make it a little bit better every year, too, so we’re definitely really proud of what we’ve done here. It’s all these kids, too. They decide to come here because they have it in their mind that they want to make the most out of this opportunity and they want to win while they’re here.”
HCC hosted the 2025 NJCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship for the third year in a row. The Fighting Owls defeated Onondaga Community College, 17-10, in the semifinals on May 10 and Nassau Community College, 20-10, in the final on May 11.
HCC fell behind, 3-0, early in the first quarter of the championship game but controlled the rest of the contest. Sophomores Liam Forsyth (seven goals) and Kohl Wesner (four) and freshmen Eammon Donovan (two), Will Goodwin (two) and George Shonfeld (two) all contributed on the offensive side. Freshman Jack Donovan anchored the defense with nine saves.
Forsyth was named the top offensive player of the tournament, while Jack Donovan earned the defensive honor. Both had similar responses when asked why HCC has become a junior lacrosse powerhouse.
“Props to Coach V,” Forsyth said. “He does a very good job of assembling all the pieces. It’s just our part as players to communicate, love one another and just play our game.”
“I think it all goes back to Coach V, just the culture he’s built here,” Jack Donovan said. “I transferred in [prior to the spring semester] and there was no gap. I picked up the playbook right away. I think it’s the culture Coach V’s built. I don’t think we’re going to be slowing down anytime soon.”
Players mentioned depth and pace as key to the 2025 team’s success, both of which proved especially helpful with the semifinals and finals occurring on back-to-back days. The Fighting Owls were an offensive machine all season, with seven players scoring double-digit goals led by Forsyth (67), Wesner (49) and redshirt sophomore Kennedy Opie (33).
One of the primary playmakers on the team was Shonfeld, who dished out 55 assists on the year. He is one of four Fighting Owls who joined the program by way of England along with Hugo Peel (19 goals), Will Goodwin (11 assists) and Daniel Goodwin (10 ground balls). Shonfeld called coming to HCC “the best thing I’ve ever done in my life.” Verardi’s system fit him like a glove, and his passing ability was on full display in the championship game (five assists).
“Especially with the offense we have with Kohl, Liam, Opie, those guys are mainly off-ball, so it helps that I can work around them and just play off them, so they made my job very easy,” Shonfeld said.
There’s constant roster turnover at the junior college level, with players only staying a year or two before moving on. As such, it wouldn’t be surprising if developing team chemistry was a challenge, but that’s not the case at HCC. It shows on game day.
“Our offense, we really like to play fast,” Jack Donovan said. “Our defense, we really hurry teams and push pace. I don’t really think many teams can keep up with that. Eventually, we just run them all into the ground.”
(Photo Credit: Sam Beall/Harford CC Athletics)
Verardi said shortly after winning the championship that he and his staff would get to work on the 2026 season the following day. He looks for talented players who are willing to “buy into something bigger than themselves.” It helps that HCC is an easy sell.
“It’s the school, it’s the athletic department. I just think there’s so much here as far as this place, the facilities, the people here are amazing,” Verardi said. “I just think it’s an easy place to recruit to, in my opinion. I’ve never had to not just say exactly what I’m thinking about the school to a recruit. I believe in this place, so it’s never really been that hard.”
Photo Credits: Sam Beall/Harford CC Athletics
Originally published June 18, 2025