It's 2008. Springtime.
The Eureka boys lacrosse team is a rag-tag collection.
Inexperience combined with a lack of enthusiasm and a tiny thirst for improvement results in a meager three-win season.
In 2009, Coach John Silva takes over the program, and things start to turn for the better. Eureka competes in Division II in Missouri, which is relegated to programs which want nothing to do with the state's perennial powers, such as Rockhurst and MICDS. The Wildcats turn things around and against the likes of Holt, Fox, Clayton and O'Fallon, muster a 15-win season and loses in the Division II championship.
This season, the Wildcats vaulted into Division I and not only are they hanging with the big boys, they're taking them down.
Eureka entered the week with a 9-2 record, and, according to the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association, is the second ranked team in the state.
As the playoffs near, the Wildcats are looking to shake up the postseason agenda.
"I think a lot of the St. Louis lacrosse community has been stuck with old CBC, MICDS and SLUH," Silva said. "But I think teams like Chaminade, Parkway West and Eureka are really going to surprise some people this year."
Silva, a Parkway West graduate, has installed a new way of thinking around the team.
"When they first hired me, one parent said she was going to make pies for us for every win. And I was like, you better be ready," Silva said. "She thought it was going to be three pies."
The high-point of the season came last week on Cinco De Mayo when the Wildcats defeated CBC 10-9 in four overtimes.
CBC, four overtimes, on Cinco De Mayo.
