Paul Schimoler

ITHACA, N.Y. - Paul Schimoler '89, one of the greatest collegiate lacrosse goalies to play the game, passed away on Friday evening after a brief battle with cancer. Memorial services will be held on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 1 p.m., at the chapel of St. Michael the Archangel on the campus of St. Michael's College in Colchester, Vt. There will be an additional memorial service in Long Island, N.Y., at a future date.


The first four-time All-American in the history of the Big Red men's lacrosse program, he led Cornell to a pair of national runner-up finishes in 1987 and 1988.


"'Coach Schmoles' was one of my first introductions to Cornell Lacrosse as a high school player, and was a tremendous role model for me as a competitor, as a young man and as an alumnus coming up through the college coaching ranks," says Ben DeLuca, the Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Cornell Lacrosse. "Paul's passion for Cornell University and Cornell Lacrosse, his selflessness and intense competitive nature and his unconditional love for his family, his teammates and his friends is truly legendary."


In addition to being a four-time All-America lacrosse goaltender, he was also a four-time All-Ivy selection, including first-team honors in 1987 and 1989. He was named Ivy League Player of the Year in 1989 and was the Ivy Rookie of the Year in 1986. At the time of his graduation, he held both the Cornell and NCAA record with 787 career saves. He set nearly every goalie record at Cornell, including saves in a game (34 vs. Syracuse in 1987), season (241 in 1988) and career (787). Schimoler also set the NCAA tournament record for saves (85) in 1988, a mark that still stands.


Following graduation from Cornell's School of Hotel Administration, he was a member of the Team USA lacrosse squad that won the 1990 and 1994 International Lacrosse Federation World Championship. He also served as an assistant coach at Cornell from 1991-94.


A member of both the Cornell Athletic, and Long Island Lacrosse Halls of Fame, Schimoler coached at St. Michael's College in Vermont for eight seasons (2004-11). During his time at the helm, Schimoler not only put together the longest head coaching tenure in the program's 30-year history, but posted a school-record 61 wins. His squads reached the Northeast-10 Conference Championship six times, advancing as far as the semifinals on four occasions.


Recently, Schimoler returned to his Ivy League roots as an assistant coach at Dartmouth College, where he would have been in his second season with the Big Green.


In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to "Paul Schimoler Fund," towards an educational fund for the children to: Branch Manager, TD Banknorth, 100 Center Road, Essex, VT 05452.


Borrowing a quote from an email sent to Inside Lacrosse, "The best goalie on earth is now the best goalie in Heaven."


Paul leaves behind a wife (Lynn Ellen) and two children, Serena (19) and Jack (5). According to the email sent to IL, Paul wanted services on both Vermont and Long Island.


This is the second tragedy to strike the Schimoler family. Paul's brother John passed away [4] last August at the age of 50.



Paul Schimoler's memorial service will be held Saturday, Feb. 23 at St. Michael's College Chapel in Colchester Vt at 1:00pm. Stay tuned to InsideLacrosse.com for details on his Long Island service.


Quotes from the Lacrosse Community

Gunnar Schimoler: "After the passing of my father John Schimoler last August, my uncle, Paul Schimoler, began to step into the shoes of being a father figure to me. He would drop everything to help me out, whether for lacrosse or just to check in. My uncle Paul was one of the greatest people to walk this earth and one of if not the greatest goalie to every strap up.

Every year my family would travel to Lake Placid. I would get to watch my uncle play against my dad's team Burnt Orange. It was truly remarkable to see uncle Paulie stuffing all-time greats like Casey Powell. He was truly amazing. I can't imagine him in his prime.

He used to tell me that he never played goalie in high school until his senior year. He was a starting attackman until his senior year. When his team went on man-up he would grab his shortstick and go play on man up. Now a days that is unheard of. That just shows how special of a player my uncle was.

He had bad knees, making it hard to even walk, he never complained. One of my greatest memories of Paul came after the death of my father. He was up early planting a tree in memory of my father. He spent all day on his hands and knees planting this tree. He didn't want any help, he felt obligated to do something. That's just the way he was, he never complained, always doing things for others.He was one of the strongest people I know, for months he didn't feel like himself, felt sick and tired but he kept going, thinking it was just pain from his knee. He kept working, never skipped a beat. This fatigue later turned out to be cancer. He fought so hard, never complaining. He was so much sicker than we thought.

Paul leaves behind my aunt Lynn Ellen and my cousin Serena (19) and Jack (5). My uncle Paul was of the greatest dads, he was so proud of his kids. Jack is the smartest kid I've ever met. At five years old he can hold an intelligent conversation with anyone.

Paul will certainly be missed. He knew everyone, one of the most popular men. He was truly a legend. "Heroes get remembered, but legends never die". One can only imagine my dad and my uncle playing together in heaven."


Erik Miller: "I was lucky enough to play with Paul for three of Rusty Red's LP championships. He was one of the greatest goalies I have ever seen and a fantastic person to know and play with.

I started playing lacrosse seriously as a junior in high school and then goalie the summer before my senior year. This was in the late '80s during Paul's career at Cornell. I watched every film I could find of him and studied his every move. He and I were of similar stature so his game was particularly interesting to me. I watched his position, technique and communication, and learned everything from him in a short period of time. I was very happy and appreciative to be able to share this with him and play with him during our time with Rusty Red. Even then he continued to teach me. Even in a summer tournament, he was undoubtedly the most prepared player on the field. Not every day do you have the chance to play and thank your mentor even though the may never had known that they were so instrumental.

So sad to hear this news but I wanted to share my little story. I am sure there will be lots of players much better than I sending their thoughts and prayers but I attribute any success I had at any level of lacrosse to what I learned from watching guys like Paul and applying it anyway I could and am forever grateful."


Rob Haggerty, Phoenix, Ariz: "I went to Ithaca College in 1994; I was a JUCO transfer from Suffolk Community College where I was a first-team All-American. I would have preferred to go to a Division I School, but was having issues with my eligibility running out my senior year. I had looked at UVa, UNC, considered UMass, was offered scholarships to Butler, Adelphi had called, NYIT, but when it seemed it wasn't working out to get eligibility, I looked to Division III programs and ended up at Ithaca College.

Ithaca was a tumultuous year for me, breaking up with my long-time girlfriend and then suffering a second or third degree sprain on my ankle which put me on crutches for a few weeks. As I recovered I was soon up and playing again mid season. Somewhere along the way we had an intramural scrimmage with Cornell, pretty low key, wasn't all the players, so I ended up jumping in with the Cornell team. Somewhere along the way Paul Schimoler was in goal and we got to talking as the ball was on the opposite side. I told him that Ithaca wasn't exactly what I was looking for but loved the town etc. So he said, 'Haggs, do you want to come play for Cornell?' Of course I said yes, told him about issues if eligibility, but he really went out of his way to speak to the NCAA, had me meet with another assistant coach about getting in to Cornell, visiting the campus. The NCAA did not think an appeal would go through and so my dreams of playing DI at Cornell were over, but I never forgot the kindness Paul showed me. I would see him over the years playing club lax or tournaments, and he would come into my restaurant Iworked at in NYC occasionally.

When I think back on my life and the many special people who have come in and out of it, and really had a lasting impression on me and my heart, Paul Schimoler is one of those people, for me it's like some kind of guardian angel who looks over all of us as we go through and struggle through this life and they show us kindness and good heartedness and show us how we can make an impact on this world and help it.

I graduated from a Buddhist Studies Program in 2010, I teach Yoga and Buddhism to prisoners in Arizona, volunteer for a Hospice Organization, help run retreats, travel the world, practice and try to be a better human being; I can honestly say, Paul Schimoler was instrumental in the path I took in my life.

My prayers go out to Paul and his family and he will surely be missed.

Thanks so much Paul for being in this world!"