Earlier this season, Roanoke coach Bill Pilat called senior goalie, Ian Davies, the best in college lacrosse. Davies, the 2018 National Goalie of the Year and a First Team All-American, sure has the talent to back that up.

“He's so fast and so quick,” Pilat said at the time. “He sometimes does things wrong technically, but he's so fast it doesn't matter. That's rare. You think a shot is going low but it's really going high, and he still saves it. Most people can't do that.”

But for much of his freshman year, Davies was Roanoke’s No. 2 option between the pipes, as classmate Burke McManus received the lion’s share of minutes.

McManus and Davies, roommates as sophomores and seniors, shared a friendly competition. Like with any goalie battle, one tends to win out.

“We were always each other's biggest supporters, each other's biggest fans,” McManus said.

As that fateful 2016 season unfolded, it wasn’t as if Davies wasn’t talented. It was quite the opposite as he graduated from Germantown Academy, the high-end prep program near Philadelphia, Pa. Focus and clarity, for a position that leans upon both traits so heavily, was lacking.

In late March of 2016, Davies’ mother, Cindi, had what she thought was vertigo while driving on the highway. A few days later, she had a stroke, after which doctors discovered she had Stage 5 lung cancer. Cindi was only given a few months to live.

Davies, at the wish of his mom, stayed through second semester to finish the Maroons’ lacrosse season and wrap up classes. He’d fly home to Utah from school in Salem, Va., once everything wrapped up. All would be well, they trusted.

“Since she had a stroke, she lost her speech,” Davies said. “I would FaceTime her before practice, after practice, after a game. We couldn't really have a dialogue, so I would just tell her about my day. She was always asking about the team and Coach Pilat and everything. I would give her updates. We were always in touch.”

Nearly a month went by when Davies didn’t play at all. But then an ODAC semifinal game vs. Lynchburg came around on May 7, 2016, and McManus was struggling. Pilat looked to Davies, who entered in relief, making 12 saves on 17 shots as Roanoke lost 16-14.

“It was probably the coolest experience I've had playing lacrosse since I knew my mom was watching,” Davies said. “We ended up losing, but I remember thinking how cool it is for my mom to see.”

With the season over, Davies returned to his family and Cindi began to defy the odds. She was healthy for most of Davies’ sophomore year in 2017, off chemo and had switched to another immunotherapy treatment. Davies became the go-to starter, more focused on lacrosse as family life cleared up.

“She couldn't come to a lot of games because we were so far,” Davies said. “But my sister and dad told me she'd sit by the computer and every time I made a save she would mark it down. She'd have a tally going and if I turned the ball over she'd have a column for that. She loved watching us play. Once she got her speech back some we'd always talk about lacrosse.”

Roanoke again lost to Lynchburg in the ODAC semifinals in early May, and Davies returned home. Shortly after, Cindi’s health took a turn for the worse. Cynthia Kathleen Davies, 51, ultimately passed away on June 25, 2017.

“When it first happened, I just wished it was a dream or something,” Davies said, “but you keep waking up and it's that the reality you have to deal with.”

Davies, back home, had time to prepare for what was coming. His lacrosse family at Roanoke, though, was entirely caught off guard.

“Next thing I know I get a text from Ian that his mom passed away,” Pilat said. “It was like what the hell happened. It was really, really fast. I thought everything was OK and everybody on the team did too. It was kind of a shock and Ian was home, people reached out to him. Everyone on the team reached out.”

With Davies across the country, there was little Roanoke lacrosse could offer. McManus, one of Davies’ closest friends at school, planned to fly out for the services, only for work to get in the way. His family and several others sent bouquets of flowers and messages of support.

“I've been a part of so many teams in my lacrosse career, but I've never seen a team come together so much for a guy, even when we were freshmen and they knew him for six, seven months,” McManus. “We had his back from the start.”

Roanoke lacrosse, especially then, became one big family.

“It’s just that lacrosse brings people together,” Pilat said. “It always has.”

As hard as it was, life went on for Davies. Pilat saw a new goalie when he returned for the 2018 season, and it showed on the field with a 9.24 goals against average and .570 save percentage. The postseason awards came, too, as Roanoke made the NCAA tournament’s second round.

Asked what changed, Davies quickly knew the answer.

“People would ask me what changed,” Davies said. “It’s easy. I felt like I went from playing for nothing to playing for something. I could play for my mom. She helped me out a lot my junior year even after she passed away. Learning to play for something was really important.”

Davies’ biggest supporter was never far, and she isn’t during his senior year either. He suffered a knee injury against Christopher Newport on Feb. 27, but quickly bounced back as Roanoke has found its groove after some early-season troubles. Roanoke now sits fifth in the ODAC standings with just a week left in conference, a likely scenario that puts it in the conference tournament.

Davies is his dominant self, too, saving 56.2 percent of his shots and holding an 11.44 goals against average. He has 11 games with double-digit saves. Once again, he’s playing for something.

“There's no quit in me and I'm working on turning things around not only for my team but for myself, for my mom,” Davies said. “Then nothing has really changed from last year. It's still playing for her. I always will play for her.”