Max Lachowechi brings us our second installment in our Keeping Up With The Pros series that we caught up with. The series asks current pros from our program a series of questions that they will respond to with a video.
Lachowecki played a key role for the Irish during the 2013 national championship season, starting 23 matches at left back. The Evansville product was selected as the Notre Dame Monogram Club Co-Most Valuable Player alongside Jon Gallagher following the 2015 season. Lachowecki logged over 8,000 minutes over 85 appearances in his Irish career, scoring eight goals and dishing out nine assists.
The defender was drafted with the 25th overall selection in the second round by Real Salt Lake in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft. Lachowecki has played in 75 matches combined in the USL between the Real Monarchs and the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Lachowecki scored his first professional goal in a win over Seattle Sounders 2 during the 2017 season.
Below is a transcript of the video from Lachowecki.
The 2nd installment of Keeping up with the Pros is here! We caught up with Max Lachowecki, who is currently with the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Opening Statement: Hey gang, Max Lachowecki here, class of 2015, I’m here with the latest installment of ‘Keeping Up With The Pros.’ That’s right, I’m a professional athlete. See kids, anything is possible, seriously. I’ve been asked to answer a few questions on my time at Notre Dame and my career after. I’ll try to keep it short and sweet, so here we go.
Q: Why did you choose Notre Dame?
A: That’s pretty easy, it was the perfect combination of a really great academic school and then also a really competitive soccer program and that’s exactly what I was looking for. And it was an opportunity for me to go not too far from home.
Q: What is your favorite memory of the ND men’s soccer program?
A: Besides just being with the best group of guys there are, winning the national championship. That was easily the best moment in my career. That game in particular was filled with a lot of adversity and we were able to overcome that and win the first national championship in program history. So, yeah, best memory by far.
Q: How did Notre Dame prepare you for your career?
A: I think any athlete will tell you just the highs and lows of any practice or game having to deal with loss, winning, you know your highs and lows—I remember Boss [Coach Bobby Clark] in particular would always say, ‘Never let your highs get too high or your lows get too low,’ and I think a lot of guys carried that with them in their career and definitely afterwards. So, that’s helped me I know.
Q: What is your favorite spot on ND’s campus and what is your favorite thing about campus?
A: I don’t know if I have a favorite, but I spent a lot of time at Reckers and I ate a lot of pizza there. I also met Walter White’s son from the show ‘Breaking Bad’ and that was pretty special and a monumental moment in my time on campus. Then also just the Golden Dome in general. Any time the sun was setting it just kind of glistened off the Golden Dome. That’s a hard sight to beat, so definitely one of my favorites.
Q: Share with us a funny story about you and your teammates from your time at Notre Dame.
A: I don’t know if I have any—well, maybe one that’s appropriate would be a story, and it actually took place over spring break. Many of those who have played for Notre Dame’s program and those who are well acquainted know that we have a system in place to keep guys accountable, whether that be showing up on time or wearing the appropriate attire. We had a teammate, Vince Cicciarelli, who on this particular occasion decided he would show up to Easter Sunday mass at the Basilica wearing a Hawaiian polo. Now, the rule was that you had to wear a collared t-shirt. By definition he was wearing a collared shirt, but our captain Dillon Powers didn’t think that it was up to the standard of a Sunday mass and therefore asked him to take off the Hawaiian t-shirt and put on a Notre Dame jacket. So, we go to the mass, the mass ends and Vince is fined for not wearing a polo at church. We took this to court and to this day I’m not entirely sure who’s right and I think there’s been a feud ever since and I know they both still kind of hold a bit of a grudge. So, to me it was hilarious, but for those involved it was maybe a little more of a trying time than they were hoping to have on Easter Sunday.
Q: What is your favorite soccer memory as a player and as a fan growing up?
A: As a player, again, it has to be winning the national championship and then maybe also making my professional debut for the Real Monarchs in Salt Lake City. That was a special moment and kind of a culmination of a lot of the hard work I put in. Then, maybe as a fan growing up would be when Landon Donovan scored in the World Cup to put us through to the next round. I remember taking like a full on sprint around the house and doing a knee slide in the living room. That was a pretty amazing moment.
Q: What have you been doing to keep busy during self-distancing?
A: Great question and I hope everyone has been self-distancing. I’ve been taking a lot of walks, listening to a lot of music trying to catch up on some albums that I’ve wanted to listen to for a long time. Then, probably the biggest thing is crosswords. I’ve done a lot of crosswords and I’m getting very good at them. My mom sends me all the ones from back home in the newspaper. I know that sounds a little bit dorky, but I love them and I love her, so thank you Mom.
Q: What is a talent or skill that you want to develop during self-distancing?
A: I thought about giving writing a try, but I haven’t put pen to paper yet. So, if anyone has any other good suggestions, feel free to throw them my way. Cooking, I really enjoy cooking, but I guess that wouldn’t necessarily be a new skill.Closing Statement: Thanks for listening, guys, and I hope you are staying safe and healthy. Go Irish.