John Nostrant still remembers Kyle Barrie’s final moment playing on The Haverford School lacrosse field. The sun had set hours ago, and yet Barrie was shooting alone on an empty cage.

It didn’t matter that Barrie’s high school career had ended an hour earlier when his team lost the Pennsylvania state semifinal and fell agonizingly short of repeating as state champions. He needed to improve the shot that had failed him just hours ago, even though he could barely see his target in the pitch-black setting.

‘That basically epitomizes Kyle’s work ethic,’ said Nostrant, Barrie’s former varsity lacrosse coach. ‘He was always the last one on the field at Haverford. Some kids are gym rats in basketball. Well, he’s a cage rat.’

After polishing his skills for three years, the Johns Hopkins attackman enters the weekend as the Blue Jays’ second leading scorer. He, along with the rest of the No. 1 Blue Jays (4-0), will face No. 3 Syracuse (3-0) in a battle of undefeated teams on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Baltimore, Md.

Another person who’ll be on-hand Saturday is the man who has witnessed nearly every moment of Barrie’s development, long before his final days at Haverford or his first ones at Hopkins. He’s the guiding force behind Barrie’s work ethic. He’s the 21-year-old’s greatest fan and best friend – he’s his father, Hugh Barrie.

‘He’s been to probably every lacrosse game I’ve ever played in,’ Kyle Barrie said. ‘It’s real nice to always see him there. He’s definitely been my biggest motivator. When I was a little kid, he would get me away from the TV and get me doing something outside. He was a big stickler on that.’

It took Hugh Barrie a while to find the right sport that would hold his son’s interest. He introduced his son to baseball – the sport he played as a youth – but it was too boring for his son’s liking. He showed his son how to play football, but his son would eventually give it up after playing into his high school years only to satisfy his father.

Instead, Kyle Barrie ended up finding his passion on his own. And he stuck with it from the moment he picked up a lacrosse stick as a curious fifth-grader.

‘The day he picked up that stick, he never put it down,’ Hugh Barrie said. ‘He just fell in love with the sport. He wasn’t a gifted athlete, but his skills came from constantly playing.’

No one in Hugh Barrie’s family had played lacrosse, but he learned with his son. Despite many broken windows, the two continually played catch outside in the backyard. Kyle Barrie also joined a local peewee team called Ashbee Lacrosse and learned the game alongside Virginia attackman John Christmas.

By the time Kyle Barrie transferred to Haverford his 8th grade year, he knew lacrosse was the sport he wanted to play. His father no longer needed to bribe him with milkshakes to take extra practice sessions as he once did. Kyle Barrie wanted to put in the extra effort, regardless.

‘Basically, (lacrosse) was the first thing I did after school,’ he said. ‘Sometimes, my dad would even drop me off at school early, so I could shoot around in the gym before class started.’

The preparation helped Kyle Barrie make a smooth transition onto Nostrant’s varsity team. Though Nostrant said the freshman was weaker than most of his competitors, he still netted 50 goals in his first season.

It was also during this time when Hugh Barrie realized he needed to be less critical of his son’s performance rather than telling him what goals he missed and in which areas he needed to improve.

‘He had a tough high school coach and didn’t need someone else being tough on him,’ Hugh Barrie said. ‘He just needed someone in his corner cheering for him. Now when I talk to him, I always end the conversation with ‘your biggest fan’ because that’s what I am to him. I let him know it, too. He can hear me in the stands because I holler, ‘good goal, KB’ whenever he scores.’

Though Kyle Barrie has moved two hours away from his parents’ home in Narberth, Pa., Hugh Barrie and his wife, Marianna, have cheered him on in almost every one of his games, including road games. The couple once drove 18 hours roundtrip to attend an afternoon game at Ohio State his sophomore year.

Kyle Barrie said he remains very close to his dad and considers him a friend before he does his parent. Hugh Barrie echoed the same thoughts, calling them two best friends who can sit down and discuss any problems in their lives over a cold beer.

Even Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala has been impressed with Kyle Barrie’s character in the three short years he’s known him.

‘Kyle has been a pleasure to coach,’ Pietramala said. ‘He just loves the sport of lacrosse and loves to play. He’s going to put extra time into shooting. You go out and grab a bite to eat and there’s Kyle Barrie shooting a bag of balls.’

Kyle Barrie caught more than just the attention of his coach last year when he led the Blue Jays in scoring with 57 points (37 goals and 20 assists). His 3.8 points per game ranked seventh on the nation and earned him first team All-American honors.

The only thing missing from his resume is a national championship. And until that void is filled, Kyle Barrie will be taking extra shooting sessions on an empty cage long after everyone has gone home. He admits the sessions aren’t always to improve his skills as much as they are a way to forget about his schoolwork and other responsibilities.

But don’t get him wrong. He’s still the same kid who loves playing lacrosse at all hours of the day.

‘If you get too uptight about the game, it’s not going to be fun,’ Kyle Barrie said. ‘So you have to think of it like you’re still that kid playing in the backyard to make it enjoyable.’

Published on March 17, 2004 at 12:00 pm