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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
These days, the communities of Medfield and Wellesley are breeding grounds for many big-name lacrosse players, with Maggie McCarthy, Jack Cahill, Michael Bomes, Grant Chryssicas, and John MacLean being some of the most recent and notable Warrior and Raider lax alumni.
However, two more name that have already become big ones - not only the towns of Medfield and Wellesley, but also the entire lacrosse community as a whole - are Seibel and Darcey. And incredibly enough, the two names are connected by blood.
The Seibel family’s connections to lacrosse began a long time ago in Brookline, thanks to three brothers: Jim, Peter and Chris. Jim played at Brookline High School (class of 1980) before continuing his lacrosse career for Northeastern University’s club team. After graduating in 1985, Jim Seibel coached for over 30 years and moved to Maryland for work before moving back to Medfield with his family in 2015.
Peter Seibel, the middle of the three siblings, played lacrosse at Brookline and graduated in 1981 before taking his talents as a goalie to Springfield College. Peter transferred to UMass-Boston and graduated in 1985. After college, Peter started the youth lacrosse program in Wakefield, Massachusetts, which has since flourished and seen several of its products play in college.
The third Seibel brother, Chris, also played lacrosse at Brookline (class of 1984) and followed in Peter’s footsteps to Springfield, where he played attack for four years. After college, Chris started the Upper-Valley girls lacrosse program and currently serves as the head lacrosse coach at Hanover High School (NH) with one state title (2016) under his belt.
With all three of the Seibel brothers having now grown up and made a life for themselves in the lacrosse world, their children have also all followed suit.
Jim’s daughter, Erin, currently plays for Medfield High, and will enter her senior season this fall. This past season, Erin secured her 200th career point for the Warriors and helped lead Medfield to two playoff victories, including an 8-6 upset win at No. 3 Foxboro, and also put together an absurd nine-goal/four-assist performance against Watertown in the opening round. Erin is committed to play Division I lacrosse at UMass-Amherst.
Erin’s cousin, Danny Seibel (son of Peter), grew up playing for Wakefield youth lacrosse, the program his father started. After his time in the youth program, Danny attended Belmont Hill School, where he earned three varsity letters in lacrosse, was named 2013 and 2014 team MVP, twice named All-ISL and a BostonLax All-American, and won the Darren D. Gallup Award for being a three-sport athlete (football, hockey, lacrosse). After graduating from Belmont Hill in 2014, Seibel accepted a scholarship to play at Villanova University. After netting a team-high 36 goals (46 points) as one of Villanova’s co-captains, Seibel helped lead the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament this past season for the first time since 2011. Seibel’s most meaningful goal of the 2018 campaign came in overtime against eventual national champions Yale on February 17 in Frisco, Texas (Patriot Cup). Danny graduated from Villanova this past May and now plays for the Boston Cannons of the MLL.
Danny’s younger brother, Tim Seibel, also attended Belmont Hill and graduated in 2016. Tim now plays at Connecticut College (Division III), and will enter his junior year this fall.
The third slate of Seibel cousins: Hannah and Molly, daughters of Chris, are also big names in the lacrosse world up in New Hampshire. Hannah graduated from Hanover High in 2014 where she was a four-year letter-winner and a two-year captain. Hannah was named an All-American during her senior year in 2014 and holds the school records for most points in a single season (142) and most points in a single game (17 – 11 goals, six assists). Hannah graduated this past May after scoring 22 goals (31 total points), starting in all 19 of Georgetown’s games, and helping the Hoyas to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2014. Meanwhile, Molly Seibel graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy this past May and will play at Tufts (Division III) starting this fall. Before her time at Phillips Exeter, Molly helped Hanover to the 2016 Division II New Hampshire state championship with four goals and an assist in the title game against Portsmouth, including the game-winner.
On the other side of the Seibel family, Erin Seibel’s mother’s side, lacrosse is also instilled into the DNA. Bill and Penny Darcey’s second son, Connor, played lacrosse at Wellesley High School from 2008-2012, where he was a four-year starter in goal. Connor was twice named Bay State Conference MVP and All-American. Connor went on to play Division I college lacrosse at Penn State, but passed away in 2015.
Teddy Darcey followed in Connor’s footsteps and took on the role of goaltender at Wellesley High School for the last four years. He served as captain this past season and helped lead the Raiders to two playoff victories - one over rival Newton North (15-5), and another a 9-8 overtime upset at No. 2 Duxbury - before falling to eventual Division I state champ BC High, 15-5, in the South semifinals. Teddy will do a post-grad year at Brewster Academy this upcoming academic year before heading to Penn State in the fall of 2019 to play lacrosse.
With a lacrosse pipeline that deep, it’s safe to say that the three brothers Seibel and the Darceys have made a significant mark on the lacrosse community.
Moral of the story?
If the mailbox says “Seibel” or “Darcey,” there’s a good chance that there is a lacrosse stick behind the front door.
For funny and incisive sports analysis, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter at @fLAno0.
