Post Classifieds
Seifritz's spirit serves as inspiration
By Aaron Garland
On April 17, 2013
Heading into the 2010 lacrosse season, freshman Ashley Caporizzo was sure it would be her only one on
the Buffalo State team.
She was homesick and having trouble adapting to life away from her home in Syracuse. Moving back
home and enrolling at local Le Moyne College to play lacrosse after the school year was the peerless
option at the time.
Then, big sister intervened.
Each year, freshmen are welcomed to the Buffalo State lacrosse team with a big sister, little sister
program. Upperclassmen acquaint incoming players with the modus operandi of the team to get them
more comfortable with an unfamiliar lifestyle.
For those who knew Molly Seifritz, it's no marvel the influence she had on Caporizzo that season. As a
junior, Seifritz was Caporizzo's big sister.
The two would go to lunch, have movie nights, go for runs around Hoyt Lake wearing bright pink shorts
- a staple color of Seifritz's wardrobe, which personified her cheerful, positive outlook of everything in
life. And, in turn, big sister sold Buffalo State as the place for little sister to be.
"I think it was all because of her," Caporizzo said of Seifritz being the reason she stayed at Buffalo State.
"If she wouldn't have made me feel comfortable, I probably would have been out of here. She made an
effort in me."
Caporizzo is certainly not the only one influenced by the transcendent character of Seifritz. She was
viewed by many in the program - coaches and players - as being a consummate player, teammate
and person. That's why when Seifritz passed away on March 2 after an 18-month battle with cancer, the
collective team decision to dedicate the 2013 season to the former two-time captain was a cinch.
"I don't even think it was talked about," Caporizzo said. "It was just 'This is for Molly,' and I think that
every season from then on should be for Molly because she gave her all and she would have done the
same for us."
In October, 2011, Seifritz was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. Upon
chemotherapy treatments, the tumor in her left calf shrank and after a successful surgery in May, it was
removed completely.
About a month later, it was learned that the cancer spread and Seifritz eventually lost her battle at the
age of 25.
She leaves behind an esteemed legacy at Buffalo State filled with both on and off the field fulfillment.
Playing from 2007-11, she was granted a fifth-year of eligibility after a season-ending injury in 2009,
Seifritz compiled 156 points in 65 games, good for sixth on the school's all-time scoring list.
As accomplished as she was as a player, the true measure of the impact Seifritz had on the program was
done away from the playing field. She embodied the family culture coach Meg Stevens embedded into
Buffalo State lacrosse since her inception as coach 11 years ago.
"Molly really represented for me what I tried to build in a lacrosse program," Stevens said. "Molly was
a kid who will see an extra fifth year just to stay and play after a season-ending injury. It just shows
you the amount of character and about how much she meant, but more importantly she was a good
teammate. She was a good player, but she really bought into family and she always had a smile on her
face."
● ● ●
It was a spontaneous decision that resulted in precious time, though not much of it was left.
On Feb. 27, the Wednesday before the Saturday Seifritz passed, Caporizzo received the news while in
class that Seifritz wasn't doing well in her Upstate Medical University at Syracuse room. Nervous and
admittedly freaked out, Caporizzo made her way to Stevens' office, where she was greeted by the rest
of the team.
With most of the juniors and seniors on the team having played with Seifritz, the news was hard-hitting.
The team sat in the office all day together before Caporizzo and Stevens realized their window was
closing. Time was running out for Caporizzo to see her big sister and for Stevens to see one of her kids,
as she considers all of her players to be, though Seifritz was seemingly the favored child.
"'Cap, we gotta go, we gotta go,'" Caporizzo recalls Stevens saying to her in the office.
Caporizzo agreed. They skipped practice that day to attend to something greater than the game. The
two made the 150-minute car ride, which Caporizzo said didn't seem real, to Seifritz's hospital room in
Syracuse to say their final goodbyes.
"We knew," Stevens said. "We knew that that would be the last time, but that's also your opportunity
to say goodbye. Seeing her for me, she felt like a daughter. All these kids feel like my kids and that's
probably the hardest thing I've ever done."
During her final days in the hospital, Seifritz was also visited by a plethora of Buffalo State lacrosse
alums. The dwindling time Seifritz had left with her former teammates and coach was mostly filled with
laughter and joy - two things that never seemed to escape Seifritz.
"It was like nothing had ever changed," said Karen Shaddock, who played from 2009-12, of the time in
the hospital room. "... Everyone graduating and going away and then we were all back in the hospital
together, it was as if we never stopped talking. It went right back to the way it was, so definitely the way
Molly would like it, just talking about the good old days."
● ● ●
Saturday was a day that honored the assiduousness and intimacy of the lacrosse program and
community.
The Bengals had their senior and alumni game at Coyer Field Saturday with Cortland occupying the
visitors' side. But it was hardly a game featuring the Bengals against the Red Dragons.
During pregame warm-ups, the Bengals donned grey t-shirts which read "TEAM MOLLY" on the front.
The backside contained the yellow sarcoma awareness ribbon with a yellow lacrosse stick complete with
an American flag as the netting.
Prior to the opening faceoff, both teams lined up on the sidelines for a photo. Only Cortland's red
jerseys were not visible. They too, put on the grey shirts and became Team Molly for the day, even if
they didn't sport the tees for much longer than a minute.
It was a moment denoting the strong sense of community among the sport of lacrosse.
"It means a lot," said Stevens, who also noted that every coach in the SUNYAC reached out to her after
Seifritz lost her battle. "I mean the fact one of our biggest rivals came out and wore their t-shirts and we
wore ours, it goes to show that it's way beyond the game and Molly was always way beyond the game.
Just an impressive show of support from the lacrosse community."
The shirts are part of an initiative Shaddock, who is the coach of Medaille women's team, is setting
the groundwork for with former teammate and assistant women's coach at St. Bonaventure, Kendyl
Clarkson.
Linked Lax is designed to identify athletes battling cancer to raise money and expose their stories to
gain more public support. The ultimate goal is to start clinics, tournaments and sales to raise money for
cancer. Shaddock and Clarkson started on a smaller scale over the weekend and still found it to be a
success.
Medaille wore the shirts during warm-ups of its games Saturday and Sunday, becoming part of "Team
Molly." St. Bonaventure and Niagara also adopted a new team name during its games Saturday by
wearing the shirts.
Through the shirt sales and donations, as well as 50/50 tickets and bracelets sold at Medaille's weekend
games, $1,000 have already been raised for rare cancer research in Molly's name.
● ● ●
Seifritz has been a capstone piece in Stevens' advocacy of building a tradition around togetherness -
becoming a family.
The inimitable closeness of the program was exhibited when the team crammed into its coach's office
during the most trying of times and players past and present put forth a concerted effort to make sure
the proper farewell was given to a sick member of the family.
All of that budded to a family reunion of sorts after Saturday's game. Alumni, along with some of their
parents, mingled with current players and their parents during a postgame dinner ceremony in the
Sports Arena.
They gathered to celebrate a fallen member of the family, who was about to reach the pinnacle of
Bengals' lacrosse tradition.
Stevens announced that Seifritz's home white No. 18 jersey will be enshrined in a glass display and hung
in the team's new locker room. The room will be named after her, once the renovation of Houston Gym
is completed.
The showcase of the jersey, which has been on the bench for every game the Bengals have played this
year, ensures the fortification of it. Being the only player in school lacrosse history to have their number
protected from future use speaks volumes to the kind of player Seifritz was.
But it is even more telling to the kind of sister she was and will be for future players.
"Molly's number from here on out and jersey will be protected in this family because no one can wear it
like Molly wore it," Stevens said.
Aaron Garland can be reached by email at garland.record@live.com and on Twitter @AA_Garland.
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