The battle of the city

What does this rivalry mean? The two schools have been playing each other in sports for the past 90 years. As you walk through O’Dea, you see countless items to commemorate O’Dea teams beating Seattle Prep dating back to both the school's beginnings. The cross- town rivalry is about more than just a win. Beating Seattle Prep is about being the best in the city.

O’Dea and Prep have only been playing each other in lacrosse for just under 10 years now and it already is one of the greatest and biggest rivalries for both schools. Games between Prep and O’Dea have brought everything -blood, sweat, goals, fights, and, most importantly, passion.

Off the field, the boys on both teams know each other very well. A lot of the player on both teams end up playing on the same club teams in the summer. Some might even consider each other friends.

Every year when O’Dea and Prep play, the game brings fireworks. Last year, O’Dea and Prep played twice in the regular season with each team taking a victory. They then met in a massive rubber match in the finals for the private division in the State Championship. Stakes could not have been higher with a huge crowd down South at StarFire Sports complex. Both teams put everything they had into the game, but O’Dea was able to come out on top 7-5 in a thrilling back and forth matchup.

This past week, O’Dea matched up against Prep in its first and only regular season match up of the year. The game was a physical, grueling game with both teams being battered and bruised by half time. O’Dea had the momentum at the beginning of the second half before a very unfortunate series of events unfolded.

O’Dea got a penalty for an off-ball play involving two players talking back and forth. Prep ended up scoring three goals on man-ups and the Irish’s huge lead seemingly vanished in seconds. Prep ended up winning the game in overtime. Every year, the two teams go at it both physically and verbally and this year was no different.

The best thing about the Prep versus O’Dea isn’t just the history the two schools have had, it’s how the game is seen and felt by the students of both schools as the decider for the best in the city. O’Dea, and Prep year in year out have great sports and when they play each other, kids are playing to become the king of the city.

Drew Snider is a former student and coach at O’Dea. After graduating in 2005, he moved on to play at the lacrosse powerhouse, University of Maryland where he went on to have a very successful college career. After college, Snider came back and started the O’Dea lacrosse program. While Snider was at O’Dea, the school did not yet have a lacrosse program, so he was forced to play with his local public-school team, Garfield.

This does not mean that Snider did not and does not know about the Prep rivalry. As former head coach for O’Dea lacrosse until 2021, when he moved down to California allowing his younger brother, Will Snider to take the helm as head coach. By the time Snider had left the O’Dea program, in 6 years, he was able to bring the school three state championship in his time.

The rivalry has seen a lot and will certainly still be competitive as it always is for years to come. It has brought lots of amazing moments in all sports for as long as the schools have been around. Things will not change anytime soon as O’Dea and Prep will keep competing for years to come.