When your record withstands the test of 17 seasons, you must be considered the finest ever at your craft. Throughout its long and storied tradition of success, the Eastern men’s lacrosse program has featured a slew of pure scorers, but none better than Edward J. Sheehan, still the program’s all-time leading goal-scorer.Â
The program’s first inducted attackman, Sheehan was the top goal-scorer on teams which won 55 of 65 overall matches, 29 of 30 Pilgrim League regular-season and playoff contests, and 31 of 32 home games in the formative years of the program.
Behind Sheehan’s marksmanship (157 goals on 379 shots), Eastern won four straight regular-season and three straight post-season Pilgrim League titles, and qualified for its first two post-season tournaments.
Seventeen seasons since playing his final match, Sheehan still ranks first all-time in goals, third in total points (212) and fourth in shots, having also left the program ranked first in the latter two categories.
During his career, Sheehan amassed the top three season marks for goals (48-47-36) – still holding two of the top five totals -- the match record for goals (8) and the record for consecutive matches with at least one strike (22). Sheehan did not have an opportunity to extend that 22-game streak – a mark which stood until 2013 – when his career ended in the semifinals of the ECAC New England Division III Tournament.
Through the program’s first five seasons, Sheehan was the team’s only attackman to be singled out for regional honors. Sheehan was named NEILA All-New England second team and to the Pilgrim League All-Division Team as both a junior and senior.
The 6-foot-1 inch, 205-pound Sheehan burst upon the scene in 1997 for a second-year varsity team under the direction of E-Club Hall of Fame coach Rick McCarthy by leading the Warriors with 36 goals and helping the club to a 14-2 overall record and first Pilgrim League regular-season and playoff titles.
Sheehan, who holds a B.A. Degree in Sociology, resides in Chester, NY with his wife, Rebecca, and three young children. He has spent the last 12 years as a New York City police officer.
