by Nelson Coffin
Kent Island High School,
Football, Basketball, Lacrosse
Zach Goodrich did not hesitate when asked about the most memorable moment of his athletic career at Kent Island High. The three-sport senior standout’s response was quick and to the point.
“The state championship game against Hereford,” he recalls, referring to the 2014 Class 3A lacrosse title game won by the Buccaneers, 8-6, at UMBC last May. “It’s amazing, because we worked so hard to win it.”
As usual, his contributions from the face-off X may have gone unnoticed except by his coaches, who know how much impact Zach’s skill-set ought to a team that went 19-1 and earned the Eastern Shore’s third state crown in the process.
“They (Hereford) were going for their seventh straight championship,” Zach says proudly, noting that he was recovering from a serious thumb injury yet still managed to play in the program’s most important game.
Zach was impressive all season for the Buccaneers, none more so than in a 16-4 rout of county rival Queen Anne’s in which he won 20 of 22 draws and scored two goals for first-year coach Dave Jones’ squad that was ranked No. 1 among state public schools by highly regarded lacrosse website laxpower.com.
Despite missing five games because of the thumb injury, Zach was still named a First Team All-State midfielder by the Maryland State Lacrosse Coaches Association.
And he also made his 6-foot-2, 170-pound presence felt in a key 9-6 victory over Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference member Severn early in the 2014 campaign, before grabbing 14 of 20 face-offs against Centennial of Howard County in a 16-2 Kent County romp.
This fall, the Towson University lacrosse recruit’s impact as a running back/linebacker on the gridiron for the Buccaneers has been considerable as well, rushing for a pair of touchdowns and 130 yards in a victory over North Caroline after he carried 52 times for 293 yards and six touchdowns as a junior.
In this season’s opening game, a 43-25 triumph over Parkside, Zach and quarterback Zach Smith rushed for more than 200 yards combined for the Buccaneers, who made it to the Class 2A state semi-final game.
In basketball, Zach’s role as a small forward is to get the team’s big scorers the ball while he does some of the dirty work, rebounding and setting screens.
“I’m more of an assist guy, a team guy (on the court),” he says.
In a 59-39 win over North Caroline last winter, Zach showed how timely baskets can help build momentum. With the Buccaneers leading, 23-15, late in the first half, Zach gave his teammates a big boost by nailing a three-pointer seconds before the intermission.
He’s a star in the classroom, too, garnering a 3.75 grade point average while showing a keen interest in history and political science. His favorite hobby is fishing for striped bass, an endeavor he describes as a sport due to a degree of difficulty “finding the fish.”
Zach also readily admits that his reason for not following his other, Ben, to the United States Naval Academy is his reluctance to commit that much time to the military after college.
His penchant for country music—Florida Georgia Line is his favorite—also vies for Zach’s attention until the next game of a very busy and successful athletic career at Kent Island begins.
