Cornwall High School senior Ryan Donovan currently stands at the top of the record book with 180 points scored in his varsity lacrosse career. The sport is only two years old in Cornwall, so the record isn’t likely to stand for long, but Donovan is happy to be mentioned.
“It’s an honor just to be in the records for Cornwall lacrosse because I know the potential we have,” Donovan said. “We have so many athletes in Cornwall and our team could be so much better if we just had everyone play it. We would really compete a lot better, but for the record right now, I’m happy where I stand.”
Donovan began playing roller hockey at the age of 3 or 4 and then made the switch to ice hockey four years later. In seventh or eighth grade he took up lacrosse because of the similarities between the two sports. He joined the Cornwall Youth Lacrosse club team and for a number of years he balanced both sports. Lacrosse was a good alternative to stay in shape during the off-season. As a sophomore, Donovan made the decision to give up hockey and focus solely on lacrosse.
“I played hockey my entire life and I really enjoyed it, but I found myself falling in love with lacrosse more. I thought that would be better as far as college.”
At the time, the Booster Club was pushing for lacrosse as a varsity sport. Donovan said he was ready and willing to help raise money for the cause. The following year the Board of Education approved the varsity sport.
“I was really excited. I didn’t know how good Section 9 lacrosse was, but it didn’t really matter. I was just so excited to play lacrosse as a varsity sport and just be part of the school.”
Donovan tried out and made the team as a junior. He quickly learned how different the varsity sport is compared to club play. The game was faster and the opponents much bigger. Donovan said he and his teammates adapted quickly because of the players’ stick handling skills. Cornwall also had the size to go head-to-head with more established teams.
“We just pushed each other in practice and that showed in the games.”
On the ice, Donovan played defense, but on the field he switched to attack. His role has been to hang out behind the net and control the offense. He looked to distribute the ball whenever he could in order to set up goals for his teammates. Donovan found making the switch from defense to offense to be a benefit.
“It actually helped me because I would always think back to what I would do if I was in the position of the defender. I would make my moves a little bit differently so the defender wouldn’t know what I was doing and what I was planning on doing.”
Cornwall won its first section title during the inaugural season, but the accomplishment didn’t come as a surprise.
“We practiced hard and we knew what our goals were. It was a really good opportunity as a first year program to win it. We achieved our goal, so it was good.”
The Dragons eventually lost to Niskayuna in a regional lacrosse match.
There was more pressure to win during the team’s second year, but confidence helped achieve a second straight section title. The Dragons faced Yorktown in the first round of the state tournament. The team lost again by a score of 23-3.
“This year we scored two more goals than last year and we definitely played a better game than we did against Niskayuna. We passed the ball, shot better, and played better defense. We knew the capabilities of the team we were going to be playing, so we were just trying to prepare as much as we could, but they’re still an amazing team. I was hoping for a closer score to show Section 1 and Section 2 teams we can compete, but it was a great season. We played the best we could and that’s all we can ask for.”
Donovan finished the season with 65 goals and 36 assists adding to the 79 points he scored last year. He will continue playing for Arcadia University, a small school outside of Philadelphia, while majoring in accounting.
