NAHANT — The Saint Michael’s College Department of Athletics inducted its 2025 Athletic Hall of Fame class, with six new members enshrined during the 36th Athletic Hall of Fame Celebration last Friday in the College’s Dion Family Student Center.
The Class of 2025 is composed of: Leo Papineau, Class of 1924, three-sport captain and legendary local high school coach; Peter Laskarzewski ’73, early cross country great; Sean Foley ’88, ice hockey star and conference player of the year; Brian Pannuzzo ’99, all-conference basketball scholar-athlete; Mary Denholm ’09, all-region cross country runner and two-time Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier; and John Lescure ’09, tennis record-breaker and all-conference player.
Foley, a native and resident of Nahant, remains a highly-respected, humble star from the early days of the Purple Knights’ modern era, credited with helping set the tone for a former club program trying to find its footing as a competitive varsity outfit. Following a three-year career with the Ice Knights after transferring in, Foley graduated fifth in program history in career goals (34) and points (73), as well as sixth in assists (39) through 63 games.
Former teammates and head coach Lou DiMasi cited numerous traits that made Foley stand out. He had passion, energy and an unrivaled work ethic, both in and out of season. He was a natural goal scorer but also did the often-overlooked work of being a tenacious forechecker and possessing superlative faceoff and penalty-killing skills from his center position. He gave 210 percent. Even for players who joined the program and met him after he graduated, Foley imparted that being a member of the program was for life, not just for the four years you wore the uniform.
Foley transferred to Saint Michael’s from SUNY Plattsburgh as a sophomore and became a regular, finishing with seven goals and six assists through 24 games. The Purple Knights (14-9-1, 12-7-1 Eastern College Athletic Conference [ECAC] North) qualified for the postseason for the first time, just three years after being elevated to varsity status, but lost in their debut outing, 4-2, to Plymouth State in an ECAC North Tournament quarterfinal. Foley turned in four goals and eight assists through 18 games as a junior in 1986-87, when Saint Michael’s (8-13, 8-9 ECAC North) missed the postseason.
As their centerman, Foley has been credited with elevating the careers of Chris Luca ’88 and Brian Mullahy ’89, both SMC Athletic Hall of Famers, and the 1987-88 season remains one of the finest by any line in program history. The Foley-Luca-Mullahy trio set school records for goals (60), assists (68) and points (128) by a line, all since surpassed. Luca (18 goals-27 assists–45 points) and Mullahy (19-16–35) both had outstanding seasons, but it was Foley (23-25–48) who walked away with ECAC North MVP honors. The assistant captain tied school records for goals and assists, both since broken, and he keyed the Purple Knights’ special teams with seven power-play goals and another three shorthanded strikes. Foley added three game-winning goals.
Some of Foley’s performances stand up more than three decades later. He scored four goals with two assists in a wild 10-7 win at Villanova, notched a goal and three assists at perennial power Norwich a few days later, and potted a hat trick at Framingham State. Foley added a five-goal, six-point performance in a win over the host in the Roger Williams Tournament title game. He remains one of a select few Purple Knights to ever score five goals in a game. Foley finished league play with 22 goals and 22 assists in 19 games, averaging more than a goal and an assist during conference action and nearly two and a half points. Saint Michael’s finished 13-8 (13-6 ECAC North) after leading Tufts early in an ECAC North Tournament quarterfinal before losing a 9-5 decision in Foley’s career finale; he scored once in that game. In all, the Purple Knights were 35-30-1 overall and 33-22-1 in ECAC North play during his career.
After graduating with a degree in business, Foley began working for the New York Police Department, also playing for its hockey team for a decade. In 1994, he earned the Hiram Bloomingdale Award as the most physically fit member of his NYPD academy class of nearly 2,200 officers. The world changed significantly seven years later, when New York City was among three American locations that suffered terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. In the aftermath, Foley was among a select group of NYPD detectives recruited to serve in the Intelligence Division working on a multi-agency counterterrorism taskforce. On April 15, 2013, two explosive devices detonated near the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon. Foley was sent home, reassigned to the Boston Police Department and tasked with assisting members of the Boston Regional Intelligence Center following the incident. After his retirement from the NYPD, he spent five years contracting in the Middle East with former Delta Force operators, U.S. Navy Seals, and CIA officers.
