The standards remained as lofty as the goals. Cathedral High School boys lacrosse reached those standards and a lot of goals in 2026, with the Irish remaining one of the state’s top high school boys lacrosse programs – and again achieving big-time success. “Absolutely a great bunch of kids,” Andy Gruber called ’26 Cathedral boys lacrosse. The Irish in Gruber’s 26th season as head coach finished the 2026 season 13-6, again advancing to the state final four. The Irish, No. 3 in the Indiana LAX Numbers rankings much of the season, finished the season with a 15-11 loss to Culver Academy in a Class 2A state semifinal on May 27. “They were driven by their desire to go down as one of the better teams that Cathedral ever had,” Gruber said. “They had that in them. They had the talent. They had the pieces. They had a good group of underclassmen who did great work for them. “It was just a matter of getting out there and taking of care of it.” The ’26 Irish, who registered key regular-season victories over a strong Cincinnati (Ohio) St. Xavier team and perennial power Hamilton Southeastern, were keyed by a strong offense with excellent faceoffs and strong goaltending. “We had a new defense,” Gruber said. “It really was a team designed to win faceoffs, control the ball offensively, take pressure off the defense as much as we possibly can. When we did that, when we played that type of game, we were nearly unbeatable. “If we got outside of that and allowed a team to put us into a high-tempo game, we didn’t have the bodies and the legs and the design to be able to sustain that. Being able to control the narrative was very big for us. “Being able to counter and being able to play our level of game, not get sucked into an up-and-down game, was really the key to the entire season.” Irish losses to Indiana programs in 2026 came only to No. 1 Carmel and No. 2 Culver. “That was a big theme for these guys,” Gruber said of the latest version of a team that won Indiana High School Lacrosse Association state titles in 2005, 2013, 2016, 2017 and 2019. “Twenty-six years into this program, there's a lot of history. There's a lot of alumni, there's a lot of pressure on these guys. “They stepped up and realized the sacrifice and the type of level of game that it takes to win the kind of games that define great Cathedral lacrosse programs.” Added Gruber, “You have to understand the tradition before you can live up to it. They wanted to hear about how things used to be. They wanted to watch film of the old games. They wanted to see how and hear about how other teams responded to situations. They embraced it.” The Irish in ’26 were led by a strong senior class that included: *Attacker Gus Art, who will play collegiately at Washington & Lee: 38 goals through 18 games, 22 assists. *Attacker Ford Lee: 55 goals, 13 assists. *Midfielder and faceoff specialist Trigg Lee: 18 goals. *Midfielder Owen Pac: 18 goals, seven assists. “He’s incredibly explosive and dynamic,” Gruber said. *Midfielder Michael Bitar: Two goals, one assists. “He led a very young defense that stepped up,” Gruber said. *Defender Brady Lee. *Midfielder Ryan Wernke: 36 goals, 24 assists. *Defensive midfielder Connor O’Brien: One goal. “They’re a joy to be around,” Gruber said. “You get these groups who played and have been part of the team for so many years, it's tough when it's all over, but that's part of high school athletics.” Art, Trigg Lee and Owen Pac served as captains. “A lot of these guys have been three-to-four-year starters, they really wanted to not underperform,” Gruber said. “They had a lot wins, a lot of points, a lot of accolades, and they really wanted to get out there and not underperform.” Also key for the Irish was a strong group of underclassmen that included: *Juniors midfielder Dixon Hornsby (38 goals, 32 assists), junior midfielder Tanner Wernke (18 goals, eight assists), freshman midfielder Cole Huebner (seven goals) and junior midfielder Chase Bauer (seven goals, one assists) – with junior Ben Parr (89 saves, 192 shots on goal) and sophomore Finnegan Koerwitz (56 saves, 120 shots on goal) splitting goaltending duties, “We have a very large junior class with a lot of talent,” Gruber said. “We’ve had a couple of really talented freshmen come on for us, so the future looks fantastic from our vantage point. People want to continue to put the gold helmet on and play at the level that we want to play at and compete at the level we want to compete at. “We're the only small school left playing against the big schools [in Class 2A in Indiana]. We take a lot of pride in that. People want to come in and be a part of that special environment.”