It’s not often that it happens, but two former St. Luke’s NIL (name, image, likeness) athletes got to compete against each other in February, and a busload of people from the Lehigh Valley made the trip to Syracuse, NY to see them play.
Jack McGorry, the son of St. Luke’s Chairman of Family Medicine Dennis McGorry Jr., MD, squared off against former Allentown Central Catholic lacrosse teammate Chuck Kuczynski as St. Joseph's University played at Syracuse. Both young men led Central Catholic to the area’s first-ever high school lacrosse stat championship back in 2021.
McGorry now plays for St. Joe’s in Philadelphia while Kuczynski plays for Syracuse University. The two young men lined up against each other on multiple faceoffs and challenged each other on the field throughout the game.
Dr. McGorry and his wife, Cherie, made the trip to Syracuse the night before the game, whilea full busload of friends, family members and Central Catholic rooters came up the morning of the game.
“Everyone had a blast,” Dr. McGorry said. “I would like to have seen a closer game, but to have these two on the field, inside the JMA Wireless Dome, where Syracuse football and basketball plays, in one of the hallowed halls of lacrosse, was something special.”
While the outcome was not what the McGorry’s were hoping for – Syracuse won – watching the good friends compete against each other on an NCAA Division1 field with family and friends on hand created a beautiful moment.
“From my perspective, it was really great to see these two guys who grew up together square off against each other. To have everyone from Allentown there, young and old, former Central Catholic players to help celebrate the guys that brought home a championship for Central Catholic was special.”
