FAITH: "My mom always yelled at me when I said, 'I can't,'" said Archbishop Spalding coach Zack Burke (above), who, along with his younger brother, Matt, has endured the death of both parents. "'Can't never could,' that's what she would say. It's been put into my head that if you actually believe, and you put in the work, you can do anything you want to."
BELIEVE: Archbishop Spalding coach Zack Burke (above) has guided the Cavaliers to big victories over Boys' Latin and Loyola, and to a near-upset of top-ranked, unbeaten Gilman. "Once we had a big win, then we started to believe," said Burke, whose Cavaliers will compete in their first-ever MIAA A Conference playoffs next week. "We win together, we lose together, we work hard together.It's just working our butts off, trying to get a little better every day."
"A new era has started with the Archbishop Spalding’s men’s lacrosse team. The coaching staff through the whole program is completely new..."
"Offensive coordinator Spence Ford, an All MLL player with the L.A. Riptide, has the offense confident and ready to take on any defense in the MIAA. Defensive coordinator Joe Carrier, a former All-American, has the defense playing together as one...
"With many of our players playing year round and committing themselves to the team, we, as a coaching staff, feel confident that we can compete with any team in MIAA and are ready to take on that challenge."
...Archbishop Spalding's first-year coach Zack Burke, from an e-mail to DigitalSports for the Cavaliers' boys' lacrosse preview.
by Lem Satterfield
On Friday night, Zack Burke coached the Archbishop Spalding boys' lacrosse team to its biggest win in school history when the Cavaliers overcame a one-goal, halftime deficit to win, 12-9, over visiting league rival and defending Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference champion Loyola.
The victory improved the Cavaliers to 5-5 in the league, and to 8-7 overall, earning the sixth seed in next weekend's MIAA A Conference playoffs -- the program's first-ever A Conference postseason berth after having won just one conference game a year ago.
Andrew Scalley scored five times and assisted on a sixth goal, Brian Cooper scored twice with an assist, Mike Poiter scored twice, and both Rich May and Matt Burke -- the coach's brother -- contributed a goal and assist for the Cavaliers, who trailed, 4-3, at halftime, and who joined the A Conference in 2003.
Kevin Cooper scored once, Drew Borrebach had an assist, and goalie Tyler Powell (10 saves), Evan Hockel (eight ground balls), Jim Thomas, Jordan Fortman, Jared Carrier, Joe Brennan and Alex Caruso all played well, defensively, to make the triumph a reality, coach Zack Burke said.
"This was a big step for us tonight. My guys have been believing that they can win and do well, and we had some guys step up, like Andrew Scalley, who scored five goals," said Burke, who once captained St. Mary's to an MIAA A Conference title.
"I prayed this week, a lot. And you know, you don't ask God for wins. You just say, 'hey, I want to be the best person I can,' and I pray that my team works hard, and that they're disciplined, and may the best team win. And that's all I said. I kept praying every night," said Burke, whose Cavaliers also earned what is believed to be their program's first-ever win over traditional league power, Boys' Latin.
"We've finally gotten over the hump as a program," Burke said of the Cavaliers, who, until this year, "had three wins in the MIAA A in four years. And finally, at this point now, we're in the playoffs. We think we're hear to stay. I came in saying we wanted to win a championship."
But as big as the victory is for the Cavaliers' program, it is just another in the major triumphs for Burke and his brother, Matt. The siblings have endured the death of both parents, events which caused Zack Burke to assume complete responsibility for his younger brother.
For a glimpse of the Burke's life, and their personal victories, DigitalSports offers the following look back at an exclusive interview with Zack Burke in August, only a few hours after Burke had learned that he was being hired as the Cavaliers' new coach.
(In addition, see Friday night's exclusive videdo interview below with Coach Burke following the Cavaliers' win over the Dons.)
St. Mary's graduate Zack Burke, who captained the Saints' unbeaten MIAA title-winning team as a senior defenseman in 1996, has been elevated to coach Archbishop Spalding's varsity lacrosse team after a year at the helm as the Cavaliers' junior varsity coach, athletic director Lee Dove said this morning.
The news comes only days before his wife, Jill, is scheduled to have an induced birth of their second child, Spencer, who is being named after Burke's longtime friend, mentor and soon-to-be assistant coach, Spencer Ford, 31.
"Things are looking pretty good right now," said Burke, 28, who has a 4-year-old son, Ethan; captained UMBC's team under Don Zimmerman as a college senior in 2000; and plays defender for the Philadelphia Wings of the National Indoor Lacrosse League. "But it's been a long journey, and it's taken a lot of faith."
Burke's new position at Archbishop Spalding, whose junior varsity he coached to a 12-5 record after having gone winless the year before, ends a search that began in June after Haswell Franklin resigned saying he wanted to devote more time to his family.
"I had to hear from people that this guy or that guy were going to get the job," said Burke, who emerged from a highly-qualified group of applicants. "But I just kept doubt out of my mind and didn't allow the rumors to get to me."
And that's only a fraction of the story for a man whose life involves having repeatedly overcome significant odds, often turning tragedy into triumph.
"I can't tell you how many times I've said to myself, 'I can't believe this is happening,'" Burke said. "But I'm a firm believer in things happening for a reason, and I've lived it. Now, hopefully, I have more of an opportunity to touch a lot more lives."
Burke transferred to St. Mary's for his 11th-grade year from Chesapeake, an Anne Arundel County public school not known for its lacrosse, "but didn't get to play much as a junior," he said.
Yet the night before he was slated to play in his first game in a St. Mary's uniform, Burke, then 16, endured the death of his father, Dan, 52, of a heart attack.
"My father had played big-time college football as a linebacker at Florida State, but he was on a business trip, and was really upset that he couldn't make the game. We had actually had an argument that morning before he left, which I felt pretty bad about," said Burke, whose brother, Matt, now a rising junior at Archbishop Spalding, was only 3 at the time.
"I didn't play in that game. I was devastated," Burke said. "Life changed for me forever at that moment. I realized from then on that I'd have to work for everything I'd get."
The hard work paid off during Burke's senior season while playing for then-Saints' coach Jim Moorhead, under whom "I was a team captain and sort of blossomed," he said.
Moments after defeating league rival St. Paul's to complete the Saints' 17-0 championship season -- an achievement that helped Burke to earn a scholarship to UMBC -- the senior looked skyward, said a tearful prayer and, "I told my dad, 'we did it.'"
"The moon was huge and incredibly bright. And then, out of nowhere, Mr. Rick Diggs came over and put his arm around me," Burke said of Diggs, the MIAA's present executive director.
"Mr. Diggs was a good friend of my father's and he just told me, 'I know that he sees you.' That was really a defining moment for me, and I know it's sort of cliche, but I realized then that I could do anything that I wanted to if I put my mind to it."
Two years ago in February, however, Burke was shaken, yet again, with the death of his mother, Pam, at the age of 59 as a result of breast cancer.
"She was healthy, life was great, she had just retired two weeks before she got diagnosed," Burke said of his mother, who died eighth months after her diagnosis.
"I was left with the burden of the whole family. My brother, Matt, was already a freshman at Spalding, and I wanted my brother to stay at Spalding and not Chesapeake because I didn't want to go down that road again."
Burke had been building a home for Jill and Ethan, then 2, in Severna Park, "but ended up moving my family in with my brother and raising my brother in Pasadena.
"I'm a firm believer in things happening for a reason. Like when my father died, my mom was like, 'you've got to stay motivated, turn this into a positive,'" Burke said.
"Before my mom died, my brother wasn't where she wanted him to be and he needed a man to come in and show him how to be a man," Burke said.
"I'm not sure yet, but before my mom died, I probably never would have coached," Burke said. "But I'll be damned if I'm not using that to help my brother and other young guys who need help."
After watching Spalding "go 0-for, my brother's first year," Burke decided he could no longer remain on the sidelines.
"I approached Spalding about the job, and then I called my friend, Spencer Ford, and said, 'let's get together and coach this team,'" Burke said of Ford, an attackman beside whom he won four club championships with the Annapolis-based Single Source/Smart Link team. "I said,'look, I know it's just the jayvee, but let's see what we can do.'"
The Cavaliers' jayvee won 12 of 17 games overall, and eight of 13 against MIAA teams, including two wins each over Severn and St. Paul's and one each over Calvert Hall, McDonogh and his alma mater, St. Mary's.
"It started getting contagious, where the kids were excited to be there," said Burke, whose other varsity assistant with Ford will be Eric Distin, a former All-American goalie. "The kids respected us , Spencer and I. A little bit of discipline and fundamentals went a long way."
Burke's perserverance finally was rewarded this morning with the call from Dove.
"We decided to promote from within and hire Zack Burke as the new head coach for boys lacrosse," Dove said.
"Zack and his staff did a stellar job for us, going 12-5 in the MIAA this past spring," Dove said. "He really gained the respect of the players and I got letter after letter of support at season's end from the parents who were involved with Zack."
Matthew Burke, who scored 30 goals as a crease attackman on jayvee, will be among those hoping to rise to the challenge on the varsity. Others include attackman Rich May, goalie Mitch Meredith, and the Cooper brothers, Brian and Kevin.
As a result of his experiences, Burke has devoted his life to giving back in other ways. His home-building company, Burke Development, for example, "rehabs homes in Baltimore City."
"It's a tough job, but it's very rewarding. You go in and you find a house that's not too good, and then, three months later, it's brand new and somebody's getting a really good house for a good price," Burke said.
"Lacrosse isn't lucrative, believe me. I'm not making a lot of money playing by any means, but my parents always raised me to try and help people and do the right things," Burke said. "But playing Division I sports changes your life, and I'm hoping to help others to have that same opportunity as a coach at Spalding.
"I want kids to come to me, I want to help them," said Burke. "Coach Jim Moorhead and Rob White made us the No. 1 team in the country my senior year when I was there, and there's no reason why we can't make Baltimore be scared to come down to us again."