Top Dog

By James Joseph
WSL Senior Features Writer

DENVER -- With a state-title berth on the line, Patrick Murray wanted the ball in his stick.

It was the 2007 Colorado semifinals, and Kent Denver was locked in a tie with Arapahoe in double overtime. Late in the session, the Sun Devils gained possession and called timeout. Murray asked to take the potential game-winning shot.

Shades of the scene in Hoosiers where Jimmy Chitwood tells Coach Norman Dale, “I’ll make it.” But with a twist:

Murray was just a sophomore.

“It was one of those games where I felt like my shot was working,” said Murray, a midfielder. “We got in the huddle, and I just felt I could beat my man and get open for a shot.”

“I was looking at this kid, who’s a sophomore,” Kent Denver Coach Tom Graesser recalled. “He wasn’t arrogant or cocky. He just said, ‘Coach, I know Tyler Morton is your go-to guy, but please get the ball to me.’ And we did. And he scored the winning goal.”

The moment displayed much of what has contributed to Murray’s success on the lacrosse field: Confidence, a sense of the moment and top-of-the-charts talent. He’s only gotten better, helping lead Kent Denver to the 2008 state championship, committing to play at Georgetown as a junior and earning the No. 1 spot on WSL’s Boys Elite 25 individual player rankings.

Murray is the youngest of four brothers, including Danny, who played at Colorado College, and Joey, who is a senior on Denver University’s team. So when he was growing up, “I was always messing around with a stick,” Patrick Murray said.

It was in backyard battles with his older brothers that Murray began to hone his rocket of a shot and learned “always to be tough.” He started playing organized lacrosse in about second grade and arrived at Kent Denver for his sophomore year ready to make an immediate impact. Now, two seasons later, he’s close to a finished product.

Since his sophomore year, Murray has compiled 106 points on 61 goals and 45 assists.

Murray, who also was a standout running back and middle linebacker for Kent Denver’s football team, is a physically imposing 6-foot-1 and 225 pounds. Graesser said Murray is “under control all the time but has a quiet intensity that’s just consistent in practice and games.” Graesser also noted Murray’s “very high lacrosse IQ” and said the middie has excellent field vision, which will serve him well at the next level.

Perhaps best of all for Graesser, Murray leads by example.

“He’s playing incredibly hard on defense, and most kids who are great offensive players, it’s probably not in their persona,” Graesser said.

Graesser, who has been coaching for about 40 years, puts Murray in elite company.

“I would say he’s among a handful of the best I’ve ever had,” he said.