After two seasons lost to the pandemic, Humboldt Lacrosse came roaring back to life in 2022. Hopefully, our Instagram feed reflected how much was happening with the program.
Besides playing a full schedule shorthanded, the Humboldt team added two games during the season and logged more than 1,700 miles on the road, not including hosting its first home game in more than 750 days. Socially in 2022, we gained more than 500 followers and shared more than 150 posts on Instagram, from alumni and player spotlights to game photo galleries and — yes — the occasional AI-inspired hog artwork.
But as the year wound down and the year-end metrics piled up, we used a complex algorithm to determine which posts had the most interactions and the greatest number of impressions. Then we threw that list away and ranked the posts by reach, likes, shares and comments until it felt right.
To honor this year, we decided to mention 22 posts. To help ring in the new one, we added one more. So here now, in a very particular order, are the top Instagram posts for the Humboldt Lacrosse team in 2022.
Honorable mention: Gino spotlight
We actually did two spotlights on Gino in 2022… one in the early spring and another at the start of fall ball. The reason for so many posts about one player is easy: Gino is an interesting guy who loves music, motorcycles and mayhem; and he also keeps filling out the questionnaire form 💪
22: Cole spotlight
All-American, All-WCLL, averaged a hat-trick/game, wears overalls — we love us some Cole coverage
21: Cole sequence
While Cole may have made him whiff this time during the Alumni Game, Luis can always just point at the scoreboard and ask who won. Plus, what Luis doesn’t miss, he hits — hard. Check out his player spotlight this January to learn more about the freshman middie
20: Seth spotlight
A senior from San Diego, Seth helped kick off the player spotlights in 2022 with a bang — and a side of carne asada fries. Now that he’s an alumnus, we suggest the occasional salad as well.
19: The new recruits
Justin made a big splash right from the start with his commitment announcement in March. A goalie from Santa Barbara and consummate teammate, Justin is playing a little middie to help the team where it needs it most, and we couldn’t help but notice that he was one of the first guys on the field to congratulate goalie Zack Gamble on his great game in net versus the alumni.
18: St. Mary’s MVPs
With a major assist from Cassie, we got to post about the effort two of our teammates put out during a long weekend road trip during the regular season
17: New uni teaser
Thanks to the work of the previous coaching staff, our boys got to look good in 2022. And the response to our new threads reflected how excited everyone was for the new uniforms! Also, thanks to Logan for being the face of the team in the early part of the year
16: Season finale
After a hard-fought season, we got to give the team some love after its final game thanks to a sideline snap from soon-to-be HOF’er Logan Salcuni.
15: New lidz
With a generous donation from the team’s founding members, the boys will be sporting some fresh new helmet decals from HeadWrapz as they head into the club’s 40th anniversary season.
14: Fall ball finale photos
To cap fall ball, the boys took a trip to Pleasant Hill for a final scrimmage against Diablo Valley College. It was great watching them compete against another squad, but it was even better seeing how good of a photographer team mom Veronica Stewart is. Check out the awesome photos in the rain!
13: Suited up on Halloween
October was a bountiful month for Humboldt Lacrosse’s social media thanks to coach Gus. He sent us these from practice for a sweet treat on Halloween night.
12: Like you meme it
There are lots of reasons to consider going to Cal Poly Humboldt. It’s an affordable, quality school in one of the most beautiful parts of California. Oh, and the state is investing a half-billion dollars into it over the next few years. We think that’s pretty groovy, baby
11: Zack spotlight
Besides learning Zack likes reading Plato and watching “The Other Guys,” his spotlight also featured one of the greatest Humboldt Lacrosse game photos ever thanks to former-Lumberjack photog turned pro-shooter Thomas Lal
THE TOP 10
10: Hogs’ High Schools
This post went semi-viral in a good way but for all the wrong reasons — mostly since it was a happy accident that sprang out of a three-part series on Cal Poly Humboldt recruiting trends in California, an obsessively in-depth region-by-region breakdown that was inspired and motivated by adhering to CDC guidelines. But it is amazing how productive you can be when you’re in isolation for approximately five to 10 days
9: Alumni game
The alumni came home for the first time in three years and put on a heck of a show. In a game that saw multiple lead changes and a last-second save to seal the team’s victory, the November game is already reaching legendary status — especially if you talk to the guys who won it 🤣
8: Home finale photogallery
Thanks to Thomas Lal, Humboldt’s home finale in the Redwood Bowl provided a picture-perfect ending to the 2022 regular season
7: New uniforms reveal
Our first real look at the new uniforms came from some great photos via Thomas Lal, with designs by Uncommon Fit and former-coach Jacob.
6: Hair-raising numbers
Our punniest post of the season poked fun at our players’ plentiful pelage and plumage. It was knot easy to weave that many puns into a single caption but we wanted to highlight this shaggy crew and not mullet over too much.
5: ‘What’s in the box?’
Good things come in big packages too. We appreciated Coach Gus sharing these photos of the team’s new pinnies with us and you seemed to like them as well
4: Gage announcement
We were excited to share the announcement that Gage Feroy verbally committed to attend Cal Poly Humboldt for Fall 2023. As players like Gage continue to join the program, we’re already looking forward to what’s coming beyond just this spring
3: Brothers gonna work it out
Call them what you will — and you know what I mean if you read the comments on this post 🤣 — but National Siblings Day will forever be known at Humboldt Lacrosse as the day the Salcuni Brothers almost broke the internet, with this post being shared over 50 times by viewers.
2: Appealing decals
Another key contribution by Coach Gus, this photo from our fall scrimmage in early December quickly rose to be one of the top posts of 2022 with over 120 likes and reaching nearly 700 accounts
1: New year, New name
Just as Humboldt State University unveiled its new name, we hopped on the polytechnical social media bandwagon early. Thanks to some re-posts from school accounts (and that it dates back to January probably doesn’t hurt as well), this post had the largest reach, the second-most shares, nearly 100 likes, and was among the most commented in 2022 — it also launched the new era of Cal Poly Humboldt Lacrosse.
RIP to Tony Sirico (AKA Paulie Walnuts)