Author Spotlight
Katie Murphy
Brown and purple. A four by five-and-a-half inch bruise streaking down freshman Topher Schudy’s thigh — he’d just measured.
It was the best one yet.
“You have to come see this one.”
Ogling the lacrosse battle scar, sophomore Claire Schudy rolled her eyes. As usual, her little brother’s blemish was bigger than the ones dotting her legs. They’d been comparing bruises since fourth grade when they switched from lacrosse defenders to goalies. She was used to his being more impressive — she knows boys play a different game, shooting harder and faster and from longer distances.
Still, she wasn’t going to admit anything, pulling her pajama pant leg up with a smirk.
“Well, look at this one.”
The playful competition with her brother Topher — in more than just bruise comparison — has shaped the girls’ varsity lacrosse goalie, Claire.
Claire and Topher have always competed. First it was Corinth basketball. Then, math assignments at Kumon. Getting to pick the takeout restaurant for dinner. If Topher got a football trophy, Claire had to get a spirit award to even it out.
So it was no surprise that when Claire didn’t have to compete for the starting varsity goalie position, she competed anyway.
The first thing she noticed at lacrosse tryouts her freshman year was that she was the lone player fully geared up. The absence of the returning varsity senior goalie, who decided to drop last-minute, was apparent. Claire was quite literally East’s only option — no competition. But the thought of slacking didn’t cross her mind.
“I didn’t want people to be like, ‘She’s our only goalie. She sucks,’” Claire said. “I knew I had to prove myself and put in extra effort because I didn’t want to be the pathetic freshman that they didn’t want but just had to have.”
Before she knew she’d be the only freshman starting on varsity last year, she’d attended Rockhurst University Coach Sean McNamara’s “Team Tendy” goalie-specific practices with 10 other local goalies that past winter.
Originally, only Topher worked with McNamara. Claire didn’t have to spend those three extra hours a week practicing — she was going to be on JV, after all. But Topher was doing it, so Claire joined practice one month later to work on footwork, stick handling and clears.
“At those practices, we were always put with the younger groups,” Claire said. “But, I didn’t mind because I wouldn’t do it if Topher wasn’t there anyways. It’s nice to know that someone’s there with you and you’re not roaming around alone.”
Out of McNamara’s 23 years of coaching goalies, the Schudy’s are the only sibling-goalie pair he’s ever met. He believes that the special case of an already-rare position creates a unique advantage.
“As goalies, they only watch the ball so it’s hard for themselves to evaluate how they’re playing during games,” McNamara said. “They help each other understand the good and bad habits that they’re forming without watching hours of film.”
After those practices, Claire drove them home as they discussed the new technique of the day or joked about which goalie “ate it” the worst while snacking on post-practice apple slices. At home, they still practice drills in their backyard or driveway.
Not even their parents understand all of their “goalie talk.”
Despite playing the same position, Topher is more aggressive, secretly longing to make it out of the circle and down the field to score one day, whereas Claire likes to take her time watching the game and getting in stance early, according to their dad Chris Schudy. He’s proud of the way they’ve rubbed off on each other out on the field.
“The other day, Claire’s team was winning by almost 15 points and her teammates were saying to slow down,” Chris said. “But she was like, ‘No, keep it going,’ which was a little bit of Topher’s aggressiveness coming through.”
Her mom Brandi Schudy gets choked up talking about Claire’s growth as a goalie, especially the time Claire got injured and taken out of the championship game last season. The crowd started chanting, “We want Claire!”
“She ran back out on the field with her goalie stick up, pumping her arms,” Brandi said. “She belonged there more than anything, even though she was a freshman on varsity.”
Topher, smiling from the stands, was still proud of his practice partner and number one competitor even after her team lost the game.
“I’ve never been in a situation like Claire was then,” Topher said. “It was a cool moment.”
Claire’s growth goes beyond just getting up after being hit down — she’s also emerged as a team leader. East Coach Lance Turpin noticed Claire call a timeout to say “Hey, we need to get it together” during a tough game last season.
“Coaches normally call the timeouts,” Turpin said. “So I was really impressed with the leadership from a freshman. Most girls would worry about calling that time out, let alone a freshman girl.”
This season, Claire is looking to take care of “unfinished business,” the team slogan, after losing that championship game last season as the returning varsity goalie. This summer, she’ll travel with Top Gun — a top high school club lacrosse team. Topher will be starting his first high school season as the JV goalie.
When Claire walks past Topher’s room, sometimes she peeks in to compare the grandeur of the trophy case on her dresser to the one above his bed — it’s a reminder to keep competing.
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