BY SAPNA PATHAK

It should have been just another drive to work, but the phone call Ross Mondello received minutes before sitting in his car changed that.

Less than 12 hours after laughing on the sidelines with Matt Couture, the Pembroke boys lacrosse head coach heard the news Couture unexpectedly passed away due to a heart defect.

“We had a game the day before, and he was there smiling with everyone, making us all laugh as usual,” said Mondello. “I was so shocked, so thrown off coming into work the next day. For a 15-, 16-, or 17-year-old to come to school and hear that about his teammate … I can’t even imagine.”

Mondello first met Couture, a freshman on the Spartans football and lacrosse team this year, at a preseason meeting. Couture immediately left an impression on teammates and friends.

“He was so funny,” said Spartans senior co-captain Ray Champagne. “I met him in gym class for the first time, and I remember him always being funny. Even after coach would yell at us, he’d be the one making us laugh right after.”

Pembroke senior co-captain Colby Sortevik agreed, saying he’d met Couture as an underclassman when Couture’s older brother, Ben, played on the team. Not yet a varsity-sanctioned program, Pembroke fields a club squad that’s left to finish out the season with a heavy heart and memories of its young teammate.

On Tuesday, May 8, Couture returned home after a Spartans away game. Later that night, Couture collapsed in his bedroom. An ambulance crew was unable to revive him about 20 minutes later.

Mondello called Champagne and Sortevik immediately after Sue Hutchinson, the PA athletics director, told Mondello.

“I didn’t believe it,” said Champagne. “We’re not really a team, we’re pretty much a family, and to hear that was … I don’t know. We had a team meeting that day, and it was unanimous Matt would’ve wanted us to play out the rest of the season.”

In their May 10 game hosting Bishop Brady, the Spartans wore black jerseys in honor of Couture. Helmets displaying Couture’s No. 3 will also be worn the remainder of the season.

Though Mondello said the team returned to the field in Couture’s name without reservation, the journey back has tested the group.

“There is nothing you can say to anyone,” said Mondello. “You just have to be there for them, which isn’t always easy when you’re grieving yourself. It’s left a big hole, but there was so much support at that next game. It gave us strength. It makes you feel better for that couple of hours until you start thinking about it again.”