While Rose was on the ice and snow, Maryland’s Justin Shockey was on the water. A whitewater kayaker, he trained on the Potomac River navigating Class V rapids.
There weren’t many options to go too far in the sport, and lacrosse was always in Shockey’s blood, but he always has a passion for getting on the water.
“I always loved it,” said Shockey, a freshman faceoff specialist for the Terps and the 2017 Washington Post All-Metro Player of the Year for Landon (Md.). “Lacrosse was always for me, but I loved being on the water.”
Shockey also cited endurance and the motions of moving in the river as helping his upper-body strength when taking faceoffs.
Marquette’s Alex Malitas also played a water sport, starring in water polo in high school.
“It’s a lot about teamwork and cohesiveness,” said Malitas, a freshman defenseman out of Penn Charter (Pa.). “You have to move the ball and work together in a short amount of time because it is a very quick shot clock. If you’re not in tune, it all breaks off, and lacrosse is like that too.”
Malitas didn’t play football in high school, and he had a friend who was a captain of the water polo team and got him involved.
“I never swam,” he said. “It was kind of a transition, but it was awesome.”
A few coaches approached Malitas about playing water polo in college, but he decided not to pursue it when it looked like he had a chance to go further in lacrosse.
Being a goalie in water polo, Malitas cited the preseason practices and building his endurance — “training different muscles incorporated in lacrosse” — as factors helping his lacrosse career.
While volleyball isn’t as uncommon, and plenty of players might ski or kayak in their free time, Malitas’ water polo background isn’t matched in the lacrosse community.
“I never met anyone who played water polo,” Connolly said. “I didn’t even know he played water polo.”