LYNNFIELD — Lynnfield resident Connor Bond, a 2018 graduate of Malden Catholic, has been selected to the Eastern Massachusetts Lacrosse Coaches Association/Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Academic All American lacrosse team.
Bond, who’ll attend Harvard University this fall, was a three-sport athlete at Malden Catholic. He played three years of varsity lacrosse and received the team’s Salvatore Mazzei Coaches Award for contributions above and beyond. Last week, Bond represented the Lancers in the Seventh Agganis Boys Lacrosse All-Star Game at Manning Field and scored one goal.
This spring, Bond helped lead the Lancers to a 6-12 regular season record and a spot in the Division 2 North tournament where the Lancers lost to Wakefield in the first round. Bond finished the season with 49 goals and 23 assists, earning Catholic Conference All-Conference honors.
“He had just an outstanding season and was the main focal point of our offense and the go-to guy on both offense and defense,” said Lancers’ first-year coach Doug Gallant. “He was an unbelievable leader both on and off the field and with it being my first year, he stepped right into a new system. Whenever we needed something you could count on Connor to be the guy.
“He is one of those special kids who can handle the rigors of high-level academics and varsity sports, he just gets the job done and I am sure he will continue to do the same at Harvard,” added Gallant.
Bond played four years of varsity soccer, serving as captain his senior year. He was selected to the Catholic Conference All-Conference team and voted the team’s Most Valuable Player this past fall.
The recipient of the Lancer Award for Citizenship, Scholarship, Athletics Contributions to Malden Catholic and the community as a whole, Bond also played three years of varsity basketball.
The honor was one of many earned by Bond during his four years at Malden Catholic, who will continue his lacrosse career at Harvard, where he plans to study economics. He was valedictorian of the senior class and the recipient of the Xaverian Brother Award for Academic Achievements, Community Service, Athletic Achievement and School Contributions.
He also received the John Sardosa Award for Excellence in Athletics as the Lancers’ top student-athlete and was vice–president of the National Honor Society, a member of the Spanish National Honor Society and the recipient of the English Department Award for achievement in English.
The decision to attend Harvard was simple, Bond said.
“My mom (Eileen Bond) went there and she loved it so it was always a possibility depending on getting my grades up,” Bond said. “Last year I volunteered there when they hosted Special Olympics, so I got to really explore the campus and liked it a lot. I also visited last summer with my mother, so I decided to apply early action and found out December 12 that I was accepted, so it ended up being a no-brainer. It just took all the pressure off as I knew I was in before the January deadlines for most other colleges, so it was a big relief.”
Bond was not the only member of his family to be recognized for excellence by Malden Catholic. His younger brother Hayden Bond, who saw action this year on the varsity soccer, basketball and baseball teams, was the recipient of the Brother Kevin Kenny Award given to the top freshmen for athletic and academic achievement.
As far as his lacrosse career goes, Bond said he is already in training.
“I’ve talked to the coach and I will be able to tryout in the fall, so right now I’m spending the summer working out to be ready for that,” he said. “They were 8-7 last year and didn’t make the Ivy League tournament but have a lot of returning players, so it should be a good year. It’s a strong league as both Cornell and Yale both played in the NCAA tournament this spring, so I expect it will be very competitive.”
When asked what the highlight of his high school career was, Bond said there really wasn’t any one thing.
“The highlight was really just so many good people at Malden Catholic and my interaction with them every day at school, things like playing sports with my friend was a good example of just being the things I will remember most.”