In his lone season in the Premier Lacrosse League, faceoff specialist Greg Gurenlian made the All-Star team. The opposing faceoff specialist was Trevor Baptiste, someone he considers a little brother. Baptiste’s coach was Nat St. Laurent, the same man who coached Gurenalin and the Redwoods in the regular season.

Gurenlian couldn’t play past the first quarter, nursing a nagging injury, and Baptiste was dominating the game. A timeout was called, and Gurenlian spotted St. Laurent and Baptiste jumping up and high-fiving each other.

Gurenlian couldn’t help but smile.

“It’s really cool that Trevor gets to experience what I get to experience every week, how awesome that is,” he remembered thinking. “It was fun to watch two people I really care about having a blast together.”

For now, the party has come to an end. Tuesday night, the PLL announced St. Laurent stepped down as California’s head coach and general manager. 

He coached the Redwoods for six seasons, taking them to the playoffs five times, the semifinals three times and the championship game once, losing to the Whipsnakes in overtime in the 2019 Championship.

Prior to coaching the Redwoods, St. Laurent was an assistant coach with the Ohio Machine in Major League Lacrosse; they went to the championship twice during his tenure, winning the title in 2017.

Despite the wins and playoff experiences, lacrosse isn’t what his players – past and present – remember him for. The lasting memory they have of their time playing for St. Laurent is about the person he is, the loyalty they showed him and how much he cared for them.

For several, St. Laurent provided an opportunity to play professional lacrosse. Redwoods attackman Ryder Garnsey said he was grateful for St. Laurent – the only professional coach he’s ever played for – for taking a chance on him after he went undrafted in 2019; Garnsey’s since developed into a two-time All-Star and 2023 second-team All-Pro.

There’s also Patrick Harbeson, who – after two seasons of professional lacrosse – was ready to call it a career. The Machine selected him in the supplemental draft, and Harbeson went to training camp just to say he did it.

“(St. Laurent) spoke to me,” Harbeson said, “and he said, ‘Hey, I know what you’re capable of. I’ve seen you play. I love what you bring, but I’m sticking my neck out here, and we’re going to take you on this roster, but you’ve gotta get in shape and you’ve got to prove you belong here.’”

Harbeson got himself in shape, Ohio won the championship, and the defensive midfielder played in five more seasons, all with St. Laurent as his coach.

Not only did St. Laurent provide players their big breaks, he also was willing to stick by guys as they worked through slumps and struggles.

California faceoff specialist TD Ierlan – who called St. Laurent one of the best humans he’s ever met – couldn’t be more grateful for St. Laurent’s patience.

“My second year in the league, I was not very good at all,” Ierlan admitted. “Nat was there through it all. He couldn’t have been more supportive and helped me through the lumps. The first half of the year was tough. The second half was a little better, and Year 3 and 4, I was back to being my old self again.”

“Not at one point did he point the finger at me or anyone else,” he added. “He was just there as a resource and anyway he could help me in that big slump in my career.”

That’s one thing all of St. Laurent’s players said about him: They knew they could count on him whenever they needed him, on or off the field. 

Kyle Harrison met St. Laurent when the latter joined the Machine coaching staff. It was also around the same time Harrison became a father for the first time, having his daughter first and then his son. He learned a lot about being a dad while having a lacrosse career by watching St. Laurent. He remembered the coach bringing his son on road trips or turning a lacrosse event into a family vacation. St. Laurent even bought Harrison’s son his first pair of Jordans, sending him the infant shoes only a couple days after he was born. 

Together for seven years between the Machine and Redwoods, Harrison said the two have been through a lot together, and he cherishes all those moments.

“I’m seeing this guy who coaches at a college program, and now he’s coaching pro, but he has somehow found a way to keep his family at the center of everything he did,” he said. “At a time when I was trying to navigate how you do that, with a wife and two little ones, he was an example of exactly how you balance it all.”

Eddy Glazener went through similar big life moments, getting engaged and getting married while playing for the Redwoods. While he enjoyed the happy memories, it was St. Laurent’s presence during a scary one that stands out the most to him.

In the first round of the 2019 playoffs, the Redwoods played the Archers. Glazener was on the offensive end of the field, and he collided with Archers defender Jackson Place – one of St. Laurent’s defenders from his days coaching the Machine. After the contact, Place laid motionless, head down, on the turf; he was immobilized before leaving the field on a stretcher.

Glazener was emotional. He was scared for Place, not knowing at the time what the outcome was going to be. He felt horrible for being the person Place collided with. He also was in shock, thinking how easily it could have been him on the ground instead.

It was St. Laurent who came over and consoled him.

“We sat there and hugged for a few minutes,” Glazener said. “He let me know it was an accident, it wasn’t anybody’s fault, it was going to be OK. I think that’s what I needed in that moment. Having that come from a coach was certainly special. When the game was going to resume, he said, ‘Listen, if you can get back out there, we need you back out there.’”

Through the trials and tribulations, St. Laurent stood by his players’ sides. He’s said himself that he can be loyal to his guys, even to his own detriment. Because of how loyal he is, because of how much he genuinely cares about each of his players, his players feel the same way about him.

A common phrase from the players interviewed was that they would run through a brick wall for St. Laurent. Even after California had its worst season in 2024, going 3-7 and missing the playoffs, Garnsey said the losses were never a result of guys getting down and not playing for St. Laurent; it was St. Laurent being there and dapping up players that gave him a little more confidence. He said the players took accountability for what went wrong last year, and when they had a team meeting last week, everyone was fired up for the upcoming season.

“Just trying to go out there and play as hard as you can for him is where that manifests itself,” he added. “I think everybody on our team was ready to do that again.”

It’s six years later and Gurnelian still feels bad he couldn’t win the championship for St. Laurent. He said one of the few regrets he has about his career was that he “wasn’t young enough to play a few more seasons under Nat to win him the championship.”

Gurenlan called St. Laurent genuine, adding: “It’s who he is. It’s not what he’s trying to be.” That’s why players like himself and Garnsey don’t want to disappoint him. It’s why so many players wanted to say thank you for their time playing for him, and for the friendships that will continue to extend beyond his days coaching the Redwoods.

“Countless players, that he knows for a fact, will drop everything and be there for him if he needs it,” Gurenlian said, “and that’s probably one of the greatest rewards you could have as a human being.”

Harrison echoed that sentiment.

“He is who he is. He speaks his mind and stands up for what he believes in,” he said. “Whether you agree or disagree, you have to respect the fact that he’s willing to do that, especially nowadays. That’s why people gravitate towards Nat. That’s why Nat’s players love him. Having nothing to do with lacrosse, it’s being completely confident in who he is and what he stands for, no matter how it’s going to be viewed.”