Connor Fields looks to replace void left by Lyle Thompson at Albany

Peter Jr. and Connor Fields, 11 and 8 years old, respectively, had just received new lacrosse sticks for Christmas. They went to their backyard, dusted off the snow and began to play catch.

At a certain point, Peter’s hands went numb because of the cold. He decided to go inside, expecting Connor to follow him. Instead, Connor pulled out a bounce-back wall and told his older brother that he was going to keep shooting for a bit.

Connor stayed outside for another 45 minutes.

Fields’ talent and desire to improve showed from an early age. It’s what led him to become a two-time All-American in high school, set the New York state record with 129 goals his junior year and be ranked as the 15th best recruit in the 2014 class by Inside Lacrosse.

Last year, Fields scored 66 goals for Albany, the most in a season by a freshman in Division I history and the ninth most all-time. But now the Great Danes are without Lyle Thompson, the first ever back-to-back Tewaaraton Trophy winner, whose 52 goals and 69 assists last year helped him set the NCAA all-time record for points and assists. And if the No. 13 Great Danes are going to make the NCAA tournament for the fourth straight year, it’s going to be Fields who leads the way.

“You saw Connor one dimensional last year,” Albany head coach Scott Marr said. “You’ll see him this year, and over the course of the next couple of years being someone who has the ball in his stick a lot, carrying the ball and making things happen, being a playmaker not only as a scorer but as a feeder.

In his last season at Albany, Thompson took Fields as his understudy. They were roommates on the road, they’d sit next to each other on the bus and they’d hang out together at night. Marr said he could tell they had a connection on the field as early as fall practices.

Fields said no individual can replace Thompson, but he’s aware of the added pressure and responsibility he’s going to face this year.

Growing up, when Fields wasn’t playing catch with the bounce-back wall, he was honing his shooting touch in one-on-one matches with Peter. At the beginning they would decide whether to use a field lacrosse or box lacrosse net — they both started off playing box lacrosse in Canada — and then set up targets in the goal.

Fields also played ice hockey in high school, which he thinks helped him solidify his most defining lacrosse attribute, his unorthodox underhand shot.

“When I started coaches were always telling me to shoot overhead, overhead, overhead,” Fields said. “I was really trying to work on that, but it was more comfortable for me to release on a lower angle.”

While Marr said he’s impressed with Fields’ underhand shot, he still wants him to use the overhand when it’s more beneficial.

Still, one of the most impressive moments Marr remembers of Fields from last year was in the America East championship game against Stony Brook. Fields made a move and found himself with a sliver of space with just his right hand on the butt end of his stick. He took the bottom-to-top one-handed shot and rifled it just underneath the crossbar.

“It was a pretty remarkable shot,” Marr said. “It was late in the season, but it showed us how talented he really is.”

Albany also returns Seth Oakes, who scored 54 goals last year. And with the Great Danes’ fast-pace run-and-gun offense, there should be plenty of opportunities for the team to get good shots on net.

But Fields knows he’ll have to dodge and feed more without Thompson. He’s confident he can make it happen, and so is his head coach.

And Marr, who’s coached four Tewaaraton finalists and 19 All-Americans, knows that his star player is just scratching the surface of his potential.

“I think really the sky is the limit for him,” Marr said. “I think he certainly has the ability to leave here as one of the best.”

 

Banner photo courtesy of Bill Ziskin | UAlbany Athletics