黑料专区

Dr. Sean Thornton 鈥�94 excelled as an attackman in Men鈥檚 Lacrosse at Pfeiffer College. He ranks 11th or higher among Pfeiffer players in three career statistical , including points (163), goals (98), and assists (65).

He also coached a future Pfeiffer lacrosse player who just might put up better numbers: His son, Colin, will play for the Falcons beginning next month.*

Colin played club lacrosse for his dad. He said that 鈥渋t鈥檚 pretty cool鈥� that he鈥檚 following in his father鈥檚 footsteps at Pfeiffer. Last year, Colin stood out as one of three captains on Grafton (Mass.) High School鈥檚 division-winning team, scoring 49 goals and making 29 assists. Colin, who was named a and a Central Massachusetts All-American, generated interest among several college recruiters, including Tucker Nelson, the head coach of men鈥檚 lacrosse at Pfeiffer.

鈥淐olin鈥檚 a smart player with a knack for being in the right places to make plays all the time,鈥� said Thornton, who鈥檚 now a Chiropractor at in Worcester, Mass, near Grafton. 鈥淗e鈥檚 pretty relentless.鈥�

The multigenerational Thornton-Pfeiffer connection via lacrosse began to take hold when , Pfeiffer鈥檚 men鈥檚 lacrosse coach from 1990 to 2002, went to northern New Jersey to recruit Thornton, having heard of his standout play at .

Pfeiffer turned out to be the right school for Thornton for at least three reasons.

First, the College鈥檚 academic offerings provided a solid foundation for Thornton鈥檚 intended career path. Shortly after graduating Pfeiffer with a B.S. degree in sports medicine (a major now called Health and Exercise Science), he earned a Doctor of Chiropractic degree from .

Second, the small size of Pfeiffer鈥檚 Misenheimer, N.C. campus suited Thornton, who, having visited some very big college campuses, decided they were not for him.

鈥淚 knew I would not get lost in the shuffle at Pfeiffer, which had small classes and easy access to professors,鈥� he said.

Third, Thornton really enjoyed playing high-level lacrosse in warm weather; in the Northeast, by contrast, 鈥渢here鈥檚 usually snow on the ground鈥� when the season begins.

Colin echoed his father鈥檚 sentiments. 鈥淚 liked how small Pfeiffer鈥檚 campus was,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wanted smaller classes to be able to stay on task academically, and I wanted to be part of a tight-knit group of people.鈥�

Thornton capped off his lacrosse career at Pfeiffer by captaining a conference-winning team with multiple All-Americans and future Pfeiffer Hall of Fame inductees. After he completed his studies at Cleveland University, his brother persuaded him to begin his career as a Chiropractor in the Worcester area. Thornton moved to Grafton, where his brother also lived.

When the Thornton brothers reunited in central Massachusetts, they quickly became entrenched in Grafton鈥檚 community life and decided to stay for the long haul. They and a friend established and became the first coaches in the , which fields teams that play club lacrosse around Massachusetts.

At first, the association had only two teams: one was for players under 15 (U15), and the other was for players under 13 (U13). Colin and his father would help change that when the former, who had spent his first-grade year playing tee-ball, decided that his baseball stint was over.

Thornton founded a U9 team, and Colin joined it with enthusiasm. In the years that followed, Thornton ended up coaching club teams on which Colin played through his teenage years. However charged such a situation might have seemed initially, it ended up succeeding in two ways.

First, Colin worked harder and became more of a leader because 鈥渉e wanted to show that he wasn鈥檛 on the field just because his dad was the coach,鈥� Thornton said. 鈥淗e wanted to show that he was playing because he had earned it.鈥�

Second, guided by (and taking after) his father, Colin honed skills and developed a lacrosse IQ that would make him the kind of college prospect who could make an impact.

鈥淲hen Colin decided to attend Pfeiffer after checking out several schools, he told me he was going to crush my records,鈥� Thornton said. 鈥淚 hope he succeeds in doing so. He鈥檚 definitely a better player than I was, and he鈥檚 a better scorer.鈥�

*It鈥檚 never been easier to follow the men鈥檚 lacrosse team of 黑料专区! All during the 2022 season will be streamed via the for Pfeiffer Athletics.