Weekly Cover: Shawn Lyght, the Ultimate Eraser

SHAWN LYGHT LEFT THE NOTRE DAME coaching staff bewildered during his ACC debut against Syracuse on March 30, 2024.

While the then-freshman held former No. 1 recruit Joey Spallina to just one point in the South Bend clash, Lyght’s lockdown defensive effort didn’t spur his coaches’ astonishment.

Amid a stoppage in play, Fighting Irish assistant coach and defensive coordinator Ryan Wellner approached Lyght with genuine concern.

“He’s like, ‘Shawn are you okay? Are you sure?’” Lyght recalled. “I had no emotion on my face. I was stoic and kind of just calm. He was thrown off by it because it was my first ACC game, and you would think I would be jittery. I was excited, but I just took it as any other game.”

Poise under immense pressure defined the 6-3, 200-pound defenseman’s rookie campaign at Notre Dame. It helped the true freshman burst onto the college scene, embodying what Fighting Irish coach Kevin Corrigan called the “most seamless” transition from the high school level he’s seen in his near-four-decade tenure.

“He rarely repeats a mistake,” Corrigan said. “He doesn’t carry one play into the next play, good or bad. That ability to just stay in the moment, process the game at a really high level, and in some sense, his humility says, ‘I’m not here to prove to anybody that I’m the best player on the field. I’m just trying to play the best I can play and be a part of a group that can be great.’”

Surrounded by fifth-year seniors and All-Americans, Lyght carved out a role as the top cover defenseman for the eventual back-to-back national champions.

Lyght, who started in all 17 games in 2024, helped his defensive unit boast a national-best 8.94 goals allowed per game. He drew matchups with Spallina, Virginia’s Connor Shellenberger, Duke’s Andrew McAdorey and Maryland’s Eric Spanos — routinely holding the NCAA’s most gifted scorers to pedestrian numbers.

“There were times where I was looking to him in terms of poise, confidence [and] level-headedness,” said Marco Napolitano, a two-year defensive starter for Notre Dame who graduated in 2024. “No matter who he was guarding, no matter the stage, he was never fazed. I was looking up to him as a grad student, trying to take some pieces from his game.”

Although the spotlight shined brighter on Lyght than he’d previously grown accustomed to, the Scotch Plains, N.J., product said he developed his championship-caliber clutch gene as a two-sport standout at Seton Hall Prep.

Less than 100 miles away, Lyght basked in Memorial Day glory at Lincoln Financial Field in front of a large contingent of family and friends. Now the sophomore defenseman is intent on helping the Fighting Irish battle back to a third consecutive NCAA championship game.

“Winning is truly not easy,” Lyght said. “Even when you have a team full of superstars, chemistry and you’ve been playing well all season, you have to show up every day. You can’t take a day off, and you have to be willing to get on each other, hold each other accountable. You’ve got to sacrifice whatever it is that isn’t helping you reach that goal.”

FOUR YEARS BEFORE he became a phenom in the college ranks and became a candidate for the U.S. Men’s U20 National Team that will compete this summer in Korea, Lyght’s would-be freshman season of high school lacrosse was canceled due to COVID-19. Before his morning virtual classes began, Lyght ventured to his local park, where he refined his stick skills with daily wall-ball sessions.

As a sophomore, Lyght sparked heated discussions in the Seton Hall Prep coaches’ office, where the Pirates’ staff debated the young defenseman’s placement. Ultimately, Lyght began the season on the junior varsity squad. That arrangement proved short-lived.

“About halfway through the season, we’re starting to see that there’s a very steep learning curve, a very steep development,” former Seton Hall Prep lacrosse coach Ross Turco said. “It became very evident that he should be seeing minutes at the varsity level. He left you with this impression that there’s this deep talent here, but there’s also a lot more coming along.”

Once Lyght received his varsity nod, he crossed paths with Brian Tevlin. The eventual 2023 national champion midfielder at Notre Dame and former Yale standout had returned to his high school alma mater as an assistant coach when the Ivy League canceled its 2021 season.

Tevlin, who helped lead the varsity defense, said he was an early backer of Lyght’s during the preseason coaching meetings. As Tevlin watched Lyght acclimate to a new defensive scheme with a minimal adjustment period, he said Lyght’s character reflected his boundless potential.

“He is incredibly down to earth and even more so focused on his level of integrity and intensity,” Tevlin said. “When you see that in an individual at that young age, you just know they’re going to be a superstar.”

Lyght’s on-field role mirrored the mission he now carries into every college game: erase the opposition’s top attacking threat.

Soon, he rose to the top of every team’s radar, earning high school All-American honors twice and being named the New Jersey High School Defensive Player and Player of the Year in 2023.

“He was the guy in bold on every scout when it came to playing us,” former Seton Hall Prep assistant coach Alex Giaquinto said. “He made everyone else in their locker room find their worth and say, ‘Hey, my name’s in bold, too. It’s not just the Shawn Lyght show, this is Seton Hall Prep. This team is a force to be reckoned with.”

Lyght credits many of the finer defensive details he has developed to his multisport background, particularly the countless hours he spent on the hardwood.

The defenseman draws parallels between evading picks, communication, help defense and — most importantly — footwork. Much like his defensive assignments on the lacrosse field, Lyght matched up with the opposition’s top scoring threats during his high school basketball career.

“In this day and age, he’s kind of a unicorn,” former Seton Hall Prep basketball coach Kevin Williams said. “When it was basketball season for him, it was all basketball, and that’s what he concentrated on.”

For Sterling Gibbs, who first served as Williams’ assistant before taking over the program in 2024, Lyght’s natural athleticism coupled with an unparalleled drive set a standard for his teammates to strive to emulate.

“Him being the lacrosse player that he is and a high-level athlete, he was able to do all the dirty work,” Gibbs said. “He was never too high to dive on a loose ball, make a hard back cut, go finish through guys’ chest. That was stuff that he just knew through winning in general.”

IN THE BUILDUP TO SEPT. 1 of Lyght’s junior year, Leading Edge Lacrosse elite high school director Chris Roy called Lyght’s father, Eric.

Roy, whose club alumni network includes the likes of Cornell’s CJ Kirst, Colgate’s Jack Turner and Penn State’s Jack Aimone, has seen the same story play out countless times. He told Lyght’s father to brace himself.

“Shawn could have gone anywhere in the country he wanted,” Roy said. “I remember calling his dad saying, ‘Hey listen, Eric. I’m just giving you the heads up. We’re going to have to be prepared here because he is going to get inundated. Make a spreadsheet, get some notes.’”

Lyght, who still pondered the possibility of pursuing a college basketball career, said he didn’t know what to expect as his recruiting window loomed.

But he soon realized that lacrosse gave him the platform to attend his pick of dream schools as the calls started pouring in just after midnight on Sept. 1, 2021.

“The big thing for me down the stretch was something my parents always asked me: ‘Would you want to go to this school if you weren’t playing lacrosse?’” Lyght said. “I was looking for a school that was going to challenge me academically, athletically and prepare me for after college and after lacrosse.”

As Corrigan’s staff sifted through Lyght’s tape, the Notre Dame coaches were quickly enamored.

Corrigan, who has coached two Schmeisser Award winners — Matt Landis (2015, 2016) and John Sexton (2018) — assessed a soaring grade to the consensus four-star recruit by Inside Lacrosse and NLFRanking.com.

“He played so well and was so athletic but made it look almost effortless because he rarely got himself overextended,” Corrigan said. “He just always seemed to play within himself, but at the same time, cover a lot of ground, make a lot of plays and play with a lot of poise.”

While he drew significant interest from East Coast powerhouses like Maryland, North Carolina and Yale, Lyght held a family connection to Notre Dame. His cousin, Todd Lyght, played safety for the Fighting Irish football team from 1987-90 before spending 12 seasons in the NFL.

Lyght’s parents, sister and other relatives had competed in college athletics, which helped ground the defenseman amid a hectic recruitment. His cousin was especially helpful in answering his many questions about Notre Dame, but Lyght never felt pressured.

When he took his campus visit in September 2021, Lyght said he got a “true South Bend experience.”

“It was rainy and cold, so I kind of knew what I was getting into at that point,” Lyght quipped. “Coming from a Catholic background, going to a Catholic school, growing my faith was something that really interested me. The coaches and the guys that I met were super open and welcoming that it just felt like home.”

On Sept. 30, 2021, Lyght announced his commitment to the Fighting Irish, laying the foundation for one of college lacrosse’s most remarkable breakout seasons.

AS HE STEPPED ON CAMPUS for his first semester in 2023, Lyght vowed to give the Notre Dame coaching staff no reason not to play him. Years of agility ladders before practices, individual sessions with his aunt and personal trainer Marcie Williams, lifts and offseason runs had built to this moment.

Lyght just needed to seize the opportunity.

“It was over the mindset of ‘Leave no doubt,’” Lyght said. “Making sure that I was doing everything I could for the coaches to have no doubt in me and that they felt comfortable playing me [in] my freshman season.”

Napolitano said he and the upperclassmen aimed to foster a tight-knit environment of mentorship with their younger teammates. The close team culture was vital to the 2023 national title, Napolitano said, and he and his fellow veterans looked to spark an optimal transition phase for a talented incoming freshman class.

But Napolitano had never seen an acclimation period to the college game quite like Lyght’s.

“I had never seen a freshman come in and learn our principles and be able to execute at the level that he did, as fast as he did,” Napolitano said. “Our defense is not that complicated, but to be able to execute it at full speed the way that he did was absolutely incredible. That’s why he was playing from the jump, and that’s why Coach trusts him so much.”

Stepping into the void left by Chris Fake’s graduation, Lyght ensured the defense didn’t skip a beat. Corrigan said Lyght never chased stats or individual accolades. Instead, he committed himself from the season’s inception to the greater cause of winning.

For Lyght, the 2024 season felt like a surreal experience. He seldom had time to stop and think about the magnitude of his moment, but he consistently leaned on the likes of Napolitano, Chris Conlin, Liam Entenmann and Pat Kavanagh for guidance.

When the year reached its championship conclusion, the reality took a while to sink in.

“Cutting the net, getting the hats and shirts, taking the picture and all of that was unreal,” Lyght said. “You almost wonder, ‘What just happened?’ It hit a little bit when I got to my parents in the stands, kind of just seeing their reactions. But it took a week or two for [me] to really understand what we’d just done. That we had an amazing season and were dominant the entire season.”

As Napolitano and Entenmann reflected a few games into their last ride with the Fighting Irish — long before Lyght took home second-team All American honors and Notre Dame cut down the nets in Philadelphia — they discussed Lyght’s potential to be an all-time program great.

“We’re just talking, we’re like, ‘He has the potential to be the best defenseman that’s ever been at Notre Dame,’” Napolitano said. “He’s going to be on the shortlist for the Schmeisser, if not this year, next year and beyond. He can erase any team’s No. 1 attackman with ease. He has the potential to be a generational player in this sport, one of the greatest of all time.”

LAST SEASON, Lyght was taken aback the first time a young fan asked for his autograph. Now, he brings a hat to every game with a simple purpose — after he signs a fan’s hat or jersey, Lyght asks them to sign his hat in return.

“That’s always the goal or the dream that kids are wearing our jersey or looking up to you,” Lyght said. “[When] it really happens, it catches you off guard. The first time walking out of a game and kids are asking to take pictures with you is something I’ll always cherish. It shows not just what I’m doing on the field, but the person I am and the reputation I’ve built.”

As one of the college game’s foremost stars, Lyght now serves as a role model for the sport’s next generation. Just as he drew inspiration from watching Black players like JT Giles-Harris, Trevor Baptiste, Myles Jones and Jules Heningburg, Lyght aspires to help motivate athletes of all backgrounds to pick up a stick.

Lyght said growing the game is one of his foremost motivations.

“It’s something that helps me get up to practice when I don’t necessarily want to,” Lyght said. “[I’m] just bettering my game to inspire other kids that look like me to do what I did: look up to someone who looks like them, comes from the same background, to see them succeed in the sport. It’s a game I love. It’s something I believe in, so it’s been huge to be an advocate for.”

When he’s back home and has down time from his own offseason preparation, Lyght hosts youth camps and holds individual and small group training sessions. It’s a business he started during the pandemic, but “Lyghts Out Lacrosse” carries a new connotation given his national superstar status.

For now, the sophomore defender is finding a balance between his young stature on the Fighting Irish roster and status as one of the group’s most prominent leaders. Corrigan said Lyght is so effective in the system and his current role that the defenseman’s improvement will appear incremental to many.

However, Lyght’s motor and drive for consistent progress hardly ever relents.

“The end goal is always to win a national championship, to be the last team standing,” Lyght said. “For myself, it’s just to continue to improve, to be the best defender I can be [and] to be a better leader every day.”