Two studs.

One position.

An evolving and lasting relationship.

Today, Conor Gaffney of Lehigh and Zach Cole of Saint Joseph’s are two of the most elite faceoff specialists in the nation.

Dating back to their time as high school teammates, they have pushed each other to the brink – all while serving as each other’s biggest fans along the way.

Gaffney recently finished his senior year while Cole wrapped up his sophomore campaign, both finishing among the top 10 in the NCAA in faceoff winning percentage. No matter their age, these two have each shown impressive maturity and self-awareness, dating back to their days at Lenape High School in New Jersey.

“Conor was better than me because he was two years older,” Cole said. “During practice, I would push him and he would push me. It was obviously competitive, but there wasn’t any bad blood with training or playing time. I knew when he left, it would be my turn and I used him as a mentor to improve.”

That mentorship actually began a few years prior, which planted the seed for the relationship they continue to have today.

As Gaffney said, “I was a freshman and trying to get into the National Honor Society, so I needed a certain number of community service hours. Rather than doing something I wasn’t super interested in, I helped a lot with practice for the youth Mount Laurel team. I was the freshman faceoff guy on our high school team, so I worked with the faceoff group on the seventh-grade team.”

Cole was one of the players.

“The coach of his team was one of the coaches who originally taught me how to face off,” said Gaffney. “Zach was just starting out and at the time, wasn’t even the best on his team. But I knew right away that he had a lot of potential.”

Two years later, Gaffney and Cole were teammates, changing the dynamic of their relationship.

“We still taught each other, but there comes a point in time when you learn more from just going against someone and sometimes losing,” said Gaffney. “We made that transition when he got to high school. It became more of an ongoing clashing of heads, which made us both better.”

As Gaffney continued to impress, Cole would receive some reps but he wanted to be more than a backup faceoff specialist.

So he took things into his own hands.

“Zach picked up a pole and played long-stick midfield,” said Gaffney. “The success he had was insane. We had some good poles on our team, but he was probably our top cover guy at some points in the season. I believe if he wanted to, he could play pole at Saint Joseph’s or almost any Division I school.

“But Zach wants to face off. The reason he wants to face off is because that’s where he’s making the biggest impact right now, and that’s a testament to why he picked up a pole in high school. He wanted to win.”

Both Gaffney and Cole have proven to be winners. While Gaffney was impressing in his first collegiate season at Lehigh – finishing eighth nationally in faceoff percentage (61.0) – Cole jumped into the starting role at Lenape.

“During the breaks, Conor would come home and we’d continue to work with each other,” Cole said.

With both in college, the two have continued to push each other, even though they don’t see each other every day.

Gaffney has known nothing but success at Lehigh – winning 59.4 percent of his faceoffs in 2018, 69.7 percent in 2019 and 65.7 percent in 2020 – while helping the Mountain Hawks to back-to-back Patriot League Championship Games. Gaffney was named to the all-tournament team as a junior, which included winning 18-of-22 in the title contest, including the game’s final 13.

Cole has enjoyed a similar trajectory, winning 62.6 percent of faceoffs as a freshman then 75.6 percent during his shortened sophomore season. Cole finished second nationally in faceoff percentage in 2020 while Gaffney was ninth. Gaffney finished fourth in 2019.

They are each other’s biggest fans

“Zach got significantly better from last year to this year,” said Gaffney. “It was the biggest improvement I’ve seen with him in a while. He put on a lot of weight in the weight room, got a lot of stronger and also focused on dialing in his technique. It showed. I definitely could tell he was going to have a breakout year.”

Gaffney saw it even before Lehigh and Saint Joseph’s scrimmaged in the preseason, the second straight year Gaffney and Cole went head-to-head.

“We hosted Lehigh last year and he beat the crap out of me,” Cole said. “This year, he beat the crap out of me in the first half and I got the better of him in the second half.”

Gaffney called the scrimmages, “the championship games of our offseason.”

“Whenever we’re home, we’ve gone at it as much as we’ve been able to get out to the field,” said Gaffney. “Then we get to do it for real in a scrimmage. It marks the end of our offseason working together.”

They may not see or talk to each other every day like in high school, but Gaffney and Cole remain connected by a lacrosse brotherhood.

“We’re definitely super close,” Gaffney said. “When I’d finish a game (at Lehigh) and get into the locker room, I’d check my stats, check other Patriot League scores and check Zach’s stats to make sure he’s doing well.”

Through years together, plenty of repetitions and simply being around each other, the two high achievers have only pushed each other to greater and greater heights.

“Conor is one of the most serious people I’ve ever met before a game,” Cole said. “He puts on his headphones and does not talk to anyone. His serious, business-like approach to everything he does is why he’s so successful, on and off the field.”

Meanwhile, Cole’s faceoff technique is improving, but he finds himself in the position he is today due in large part to a resilient mindset, which Gaffney admires.

“Since I’m two years older and more developed than Zach, I used to ‘beat him up,’” said Gaffney. “He never would get down on himself, but rather see it as an opportunity to get better.

“That has shown.”

Cole appreciates Gaffney’s abilities, but is most thankful for Conor’s willingness to embrace and mentor him, even when it would have been easy to turn his back.

“A lot of people would see a younger kid who was committed to play Division I lacrosse as threatening, but he embraced it, made the best of it and made me a better player,” said Cole. “That shows a lot about his character.”

Cole and Gaffney go about their business with an even-keel approach. Nothing gets them too high or too low.

“Even if Zach is getting beat, he’s not frustrated, but focused on what he can do to improve his technique,” said Gaffney. “That’s something I definitely try to emulate when I’m facing off and not winning every single clamp, which isn’t always the case.”

Gaffney and Cole are winning many more clamps than they’re losing.

Even though Gaffney graduated Lehigh, he is returning to the university for his Master’s in Management Science and Engineering and hopes to use his added year of eligibility (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) on the lacrosse field.

“When our seasons got canceled, Zach and I realized there was a possibility this wouldn’t be my last season,” said Gaffney.

“We have a feeling we haven’t taken our last faceoffs against each other just yet.”