Bruce Cobb ’77 generated 69 points as a senior on the men’s lacrosse team. He racked up 20 goals and 49 assists to shatter F&M’s single-season record of 55, helping him earn All-Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) first-team honors. He was also named the team’s most valuable player that season and, with Buck O’Leary and Bill Levy, scored 168 points, which was a record for an attack unit.
The 1977 edition of the Diplomats won a MAC championship and played a schedule that included Duke, Penn, Penn State and Drexel. That was typical in those days, noted John Martino ’74, an All-American goalie in ’73 and ’74.
“When you tell people, ‘Oh, we used to play Drexel and Bucknell and Penn State,’ they go crazy,” Martino said, “but that used to be the league.”
In 1977, the Diplomats opened their season with a 14-10 victory at the University of Baltimore, a result that caught the attention of the voters in the national polls. Cobb augmented the efforts of Jim Malamatis (four goals) and O’Leary (three goals) by contributing a goal and two assists.
There were subsequent successes, like one-sided victories over Swarthmore, Lebanon Valley and Dickinson, but also setbacks against Penn and Penn State—the latter by a 14-10 score in a game that was tied after three quarters.
Then, on April 16, Drexel visited Williamson Field. The Diplomats burst out to leads of 4-1 after the first quarter and 8-3 at halftime, with Cobb contributing a goal and an assist, and kept the Dragons at arm’s length the rest of the day. Cobb finished with three goals and two helpers.
While the Diplomats dropped their next two games, to Washington and Delaware, they closed out a 9-6 season with a rush, beating Western Maryland 15-4 and Wilkes 17-8 in their final two games. Cobb set another school mark with 10 points (one goal, nine assists) against Washington, and he added three goals and six assists against Delaware.
“We have been getting great individual efforts from our players, but the real difference is the change in attitude on the team,” coach Ross Sachs told The College Reporter. “The kids are playing as a team. They are pulling for each other. You can see and hear the difference on the bench.”
While F&M finished tied for 12th in the national rankings with C.W. Post, it was the latter school that earned the nod to the NCAA tournament, bringing an end to Cobb’s stellar career at F&M. At the time of his graduation, Cobb exited Lancaster as the program’s all-time assist leader (89) and fourth in points (109).
Cobb, a West Chester Henderson graduate, made an immediate impression when he arrived on campus.
“He was very poised—very tough and poised,” said Martino, a senior that season. “He felt like he was an upperclassman, freshman year. He was immediately dependable. You could count on him. He played like a veteran.”
Cobb notably contributed two goals and four assists to a 19-5 victory over Lehigh during his freshman year, a season that also saw the Diplomats take down Delaware and win a conference title. The following year, Cobb had a six-point effort in a victory over Western Maryland, and five-point outings against Wilkes, Western Maryland and Muhlenberg.
F&M went 7-7 that year, and again in 1976, when Cobb was a junior. That set the stage for ’77, and his assault on the
record book.
Cobb remembers playing for coach Ross Sachs, who had a profound effect on him as a coach, a mentor and a role model. He also valued the brotherhood shared with teammates that has extended far beyond their time in Lancaster.
The years after graduation took Cobb around the country for work. He eventually settled back in the Northeast and currently resides in Kennett Square, Pa. He works for the UGS Corporation, recently passing 35 years of employment. He has coached both soccer and lacrosse, and enjoys fly-fishing as well as photography. For 32 years, he has been married to Susan Cobb and they have two children, Jennifer Groveman and Evan Cobb.
