All Daily Record: Hatfield helped turn Crimson into contender

When Teddy Hatfield was a freshman, one of his goals was to take the Morristown-Beard boys lacrosse program and turn it into a contender.

Fast-forward three years, and one could say he accomplished his mission.

The senior attack helped turn the Crimson from a cellar-dwelling team into one of the top programs in Morris County and the state.

"The thing about Teddy, and I learned this a long time ago in coaching, a good player is good and puts up numbers but a great player makes everyone on the team good, and that's the best way to describe Teddy," Morristown-Beard coach Sal Tromonda said. "He's a great player, he can be a threat and he can feed and he makes everyone else on his team a great player."

Hatfield finished the season with 67 goals, 73 assists and 45 ground balls and finished his career with 227 goals and 190 assists for 417 points. He helped Morristown-Beard (17-5) win the Prep B Tournament for the first time since 2007. The Crimson also won the Waterman Division title and advanced to the Morris County Tournament semifinals and the Non-Public B final for the second year in a row.

Which is why Hatfield is the 2015 All Daily Record Boys Lacrosse Player of the Year.

"It's cool to see, obviously Morristown-Beard is known for hockey and that's not totally changed, but you can see more focus on lacrosse and I hope that continues," Hatfield said. "No one knew about us and to build the program into one of the top teams is a great feeling."

Hatfield, who started playing lacrosse in the first grade, originally focused most of his attention on ice hockey, which is what made him want to attend Morristown-Beard.

"I used to be a huge hockey player, so when I was in elementary school I used to drive to Mennen Arena and I passed by Morristown-Beard and they had a really legitimate hockey team," Hatfield said.

By the time Hatfield was in middle school his attention started to turn more to lacrosse, although he also played for the ice hockey team during his tenure at Morristown-Beard. As a freshman on the lacrosse team Hatfield saw a number of varsity minutes as an offensive midfielder, and worked his way into the starting lineup as an attackman as a junior.

According to Tromonda, Hatfield was not only an offensive weapon, but he usually drew the opposing team's best defender, which opened other players to scoring opportunities, and although he wasn't named a captain, Hatfield believes the way he carried himself on and off the field helped him to lead by example.

"I think just setting a good example and taking care of everything that needs to be taken care of in school and regarding lacrosse and taking it seriously," he said. "I think I went about it the right way. I wasn't a captain so I didn't have the vocal leadership role, I'm not known for that, but I think I led on and off the field with my behavior.

"Obviously I can't take credit away from the other players, everyone that was on the field, coach (Kevin) Meany was great at setting up schemes and putting us all in the right position. My teammates just made it easy for me. Everyone on and off the field did a great job."

Hatfield will attend the University of Richmond in the fall, and although the men's lacrosse program is still relatively new, the Spiders have already achieved some success, and Hatfield wants to do whatever he can to help keep the wins coming and bring home a national title.

Sort of like he did at Morristown-Beard.

"I think our legacy is cementing Morristown-Beard as a legit program in the state, and I really hope that they can continue that," he said.

Staff Writer Lauren Knego: 973-428-6674; lknego@gannettnj.com