Hatboro-Horsham senior Marc Poust surpassed the 1,000-save mark for his career.
By Mike Prince
Before Marc Poust’s senior year, something happened in his personal life that gave him a little push – that extra motivation he needed to step his game up in a big way for his final season with Hatboro-Horsham. And if it wasn’t evident enough that his determination showed on the field day in and day out, it clearly showed before the season even began.
Poust, who had been the Hatters’ goalie since his freshman season, came into his final year with the team 45 pounds lighter and in the best shape of his life, ready to lead his team to one more successful season before leaving for college.
The Hatters’ season ultimately ended in disappointment – a first round exit from the district playoffs – but not before Poust earned quite an accomplishment.
On May 10, Poust, a 5-foot-11, 200-pound senior, surpassed the 1,000-save mark, a rare feat in high school lacrosse.
Entering the season, Poust said he knew he needed roughly 240 saves to reach the milestone, and he knew that it would be attainaable for him before his high school career ended.
“I calculated before the season what I needed, so when it happened, I personally knew that I had reached it,” Poust said. “It wasn’t a big deal in the game, but after the game, my coach acknowledged me and that was a nice.
“I didn’t want a big deal to be made about it since it wasn’t a school-wide achievement, but it was something I just wanted personally. It feels great that the past four years, devoting time to the weight room and whatnot, helped me to reach my goal. I’m not familiar with anyone else who has done it, so that felt great.”
Although the Hatters had one of the better defenses in the area during a couple of Poust’s seasons with the team, the team’s success still would not have been possible without the play of the goalie who wore No. 53 during his final season.
Hatboro-Horsham coach John Kurek, who has been at the helm for three years after spending 11 as an assistant coach, acknowledged that it was an impressive milestone.
“It’s an unbelievable achievement and we never would’ve gotten where we were without him,” Kurek said. “Not only is he a great kid, but he’s a great leader and he’s going to be missed.”
Poust finished with a total of 1,056 saves during his four years with the Hatters. After being a second team All-Suburban One Continental Conference goalie during his sophomore and junior seasons, Poust finally earned all-first team honors this past season. His coach believes he deserves more.
“We certainly think Marc is deserving to be an all-state goalie,” Kurek said.
For Poust, it’s been quite a journey.
“I was handed this job my freshman year and I worked hard with it, but this past offseason, something happened and it just drove me into working hard,” Poust said. “I got into proper shape and I wanted to have the best senior year possible. Something happened within the program and it made me realize that I’m a leader of this team and I know I should be putting in the most work that I can and giving my best work on the field.”
Everything Poust did during his first three seasons and last offseason prepared him for the 2014 season, and helped him to become the player he is today – one that was heavily recruited by several big schools and one that will continue to play lacrosse at the collegiate level.
“Marc is a student of the game and he’s a smart kid,” Kurek said. “He knows what teams need to do to beat us, so he knows how to come in and play confident and he did that throughout his whole career.”
During what was a long recruiting process, Poust said he originally got looks from some of top Division 1 schools, such as Harvard, Duke and Villanova, but that he was eventually “erased and rewritten” during his junior season. Eventually, Poust was contacted by Stevenson University (MD).
“I’m still deciding (on my college choice) right now, but the process has been very on and off the past few years,” he said. “I was taken off some recruiting boards, and now and then I was contacted by Stevenson University. I felt the need to go visit them and loyalty is a big thing to me. Since they’ve been loyal to me, I feel obligated to be loyal to them, so I am pretty sure that I’ll end up there and I’ll play for goalie for them.”
Poust said he plans on going into a pre-law major, entering the field of paralegal studies so he can eventually become a lawyer.
For now, Poust is going to enjoy his last days of high school, while looking back on his career with the Hatters and his recent milestone with absolutely no regrets. Kurek, who knows that his team now has some huge shoes to fill, believes that the future holds big things for his now former goalkeeper.
“I think that any college that gets him is lucky,” Kurek said. “He’s capable of being a four-year starter at any college that gets him and I’m sure he’ll help any program that takes him.”
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