In his sophomore season, Jake Downey was part of a historical run for HSE Lacrosse. He was part of a back to back state championship winning team. Now although Downey didn’t see many minutes, he did show major improvement to the coaching staff, leading them to trust him to take on a much larger role in his junior season. Jake Downey, a junior at HSE is a pivotal piece to Coach Scott Beesley’s scheme for his lacrosse team in 2026. Downey had been working all offseason to show why he deserves to be on that field. In the home opener, it showed. Downey scored multiple goals in a 20-2 victory for the Royals over Guerrin Catholic on March 4th, 2026. While one would think this would set someone’s season off to a good start and set the tone for future performances, Downey’s story took a different road.
Downey endured a poor wrist in injury at a practice just only a little over a week into the season. When asked about what happened when the injury occurred, Downey replied, “In practice, we are doing a drill where we have to turn the defense back and try and get the ball back on offense” Downey continued, “And I went to hit one of my teammates and my wrist kind of bent backwards and it was instant pain.” Downey endured significant pain. His thoughts right after the injury were ones he never thought he’d have to think about. “What was going through my mind right after the injury is I hope that this pain goes away by tomorrow because I wanted to play.” Downey didn’t want to let the injury set him back. He used this injury as an opportunity.
Downey underwent an eye opening journey during his time out due to injury. He had to live through the pain of not only his wrist, but also not being able to contribute on the field. When asked about what the hardest part about not being able to play was, Downey said “The hardest part about not being able to play was just seeing in my teammates on the field having fun knowing that I could be out there, but I can’t.” Downey also took this opportunity as a chance to learn. When asked about is watching from the sidelines changed his view on the game at all, he responded “Watching from the side did change the way, I see the game because it gave me a new perspective. I’m not just focusing on myself during play but my entire team, including the defense.
When he came back from injury just a few games later, Downey had a spur of emotions. He stated “It felt good coming back from the injury. It was fun to get back out there with the boys.” His wrist had also felt good which Downey revealed in this statement, “I did feel fully confident in my wrist when I returned because we have a great athletic trainers who helped me come back stronger.” Overall Downey felt great about the process, but there was one problem.
Due to his injury and missed time, it resulted in Downey losing some minutes. Even after a great way to open the season against Guerrin Catholic. And because of this he was easily frustrated, but he did his best to handle it. “I handled the frustration of losing some minutes by just focusing on myself and being the best I could be and not really worrying about where I stand on the field, but how hard I could try and the amount of effort I put in.” Downey reassured himself with these inspiring words to better prepare himself to get back to what he knows he can be, on and off the field. Downey is a great player. He has had his ups and downs so far this season, but he has decided he will never let anything change the way he works and operates as he continues his lacrosse career. Downey left with some inspiring words, “I think that my role is just to be the best teammate that I could be no matter if I’m on the field or not.”
