By Devan Mighton
Only a couple months ago, Windsor Clippers’ goalie Chase Cosgrove was pushing his Junior B lacrosse team to new heights.
After a two-year layoff due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Clippers had just pulled off a 16-4 record in the Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League regular season, good enough for second best in the Western Conference. This was helped by the team’s lowest goals against total since 2010, rewarded with Cosgrove and partner Griffin Salaris claiming the conference’s top goaltending award.
In the playoffs, the Clippers bested the Owen Sound North Stars, Hamilton Bengals, and Elora Mohawks to earn the franchise their first ever Marlene Soulliere Memorial Trophy as Western Conference champions since their founding in 2003.
Despite falling to the Nepean Knights in the All-Ontario final, Cosgrove was as steady as a rock throughout the playoff campaign, sporting a 7.04 goals against average and 0.846 save percentage with eight wins in 16 games played.
After his stellar campaign, the 21-year-old University of Windsor engineering student added another feather to his cap – the National Lacrosse League. On Sept. 10, Cosgrove was drafted 52nd overall in the third round of the NLL Entry Draft by the Vancouver Warriors.
“I was obviously excited to get drafted and I was also relieved because you never know if you’re gonna go or not,” recalls Cosgrove. “I had talked to Vancouver a bit before the draft and had expected to go a bit later, so it was for sure awesome to finally get the text from the coach and GM and see your name show up.”
Although Cosgrove has not met any members of the team yet, he is excited about heading out west and proving his worth.
“I’ve had several phone calls with the head coach (Troy Cordingley) and GM (Dan Richardson) and various other members who work for the organization and everyone has been very kind and helpful and, so far, it’s been a great experience and I’m looking forward to the training camp coming up in the coming weeks,” states Cosgrove. “I’m looking forward to just getting out to Vancouver, finally, and getting to test my skills against the best and, hopefully, earn a spot on the team.”
After coming up in the Windsor Warlocks minor lacrosse association, Cosgrove cut his teeth with the Clippers. With two years of backing up star goalie Carson Hebner and two years of cancelled seasons due to the pandemic, Cosgrove finally received his chance to shine in 2022 and ran with it.
“The Windsor Clippers have been an awesome organization to grow up and develop in, not only as an athlete but also as a person,” he says. “The coaching staff is great, as well as everyone who works behind the scenes, giving me the best opportunity possible to develop my skills alongside other incredible athletes.
“It was obviously an incredible experience winning not only the Western Conference championship but also the first conference championship for the organization, solidifying our team in history. It was a reward for the whole team after all the hard work we put in throughout the regular season and the perseverance we had in the playoffs.”
Now, for Cosgrove, it’s all about planning and preparing for his future, staying hungry, and pushing himself to new heights.
“My future plans in life are to, foremost, graduate from university and get my engineering degree, to continue developing my work career, alongside my sports career, and get my professional engineering (licence),” explains Cosgrove. “My future plans in sports are to, firstly, crack the lineup in Vancouver and continue developing my game to reach my long-term goal of being the best goalie in the league. I look to win an NLL championship, one day, and earn the MVP award.”
Be the first to comment