Len Milazzo - Class of 1974
Len Milazzo lettered four times for the men's soccer team from 1970-73. The 1970 squad was the first Walsh team to play a full schedule, finishing 5-4-1. Milazzo contributed 17 career goals, 11 assists and 45 points for his standout career, and was named first-team All-District 22 and Team MVP his senior year. He was also a member of Walsh's first District 22 championship team in 1973. Milazzo joined the Walsh Board of Trustees in 2006, serving as chairman of the Finance and Audit Committee until April 2015. He recently retired as President of Republic Insured Credit Services in 2019.
Back in 1973, Mark Miller and I vowed not to shave for the entire soccer season…unless we lost a game.
About midway through the semester, we both had a full beard and were approached by Herb Drinnon, Walsh's first full-time theatre director with a funny request. He was casting for the play Becket and needed two medieval bearded Knights for small roles in the production. Minimal acting experience was required. We thought "why not?" and signed on. I always wondered if he regretted that impulse request. I think early on in rehearsals it became very apparent that I had no acting ability and absolutely no dramatic sense of timing. Luckily, we didn't lose a game or the only thing I had going for me, the beard, would've been gone too!
I had one line "I'm waiting." But every time it came across flat, late in delivery and with a New Jersey accent. Word spread on campus, and we had a packed house with students waiting in anticipation for me to mess up. I don't think Herb was too upset once he saw the crowd enjoying it. He even asked us back for small roles in the spring production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof!
The Walsh Soccer Team was coached by Frank Borroni, and at that time we were the most successful squad in the college's history. After a great regular season, we captured the NAIA's District 22 Soccer Championship which advanced us to the Area IV NAIA semifinals. It was my senior year and we had made it all the way to the Sweet 16.
In the Area IV playoffs, we beat Asbury College (Ky.) at home, but lost to Goshen College 2-1 in Goshen, Indiana.
One poignant memory stands out the most --our return trip back to Walsh from Goshen, Indiana, after we lost in the Sweet 16 round. We were pulling into the parking lot and there, on the steps of the gymnasium, we saw a huge crowd of students, faculty, and staff. All cheering and yelling. Honestly, we all looked at each other and asked "did we miss something? Is there a party happening that we don't know about?" It took us a few minutes to realize all of that fanfare was for us.
It really felt like we had accomplished something big not only for each other, but for the whole school. We may have technically lost, but we were welcomed home by our friends, professors and Walsh community, as if we had won the whole thing.