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Merokean is an engineer by day, Lizard by night

Major League Lacrosse squad drafts Dylan O'Shaughnessy

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Merokean Dylan O’Shaughnessy was out east in Smithtown, helping his mom, Liz, a landscape designer, with a client’s garden in late June, when he got the call: He had been drafted by the New York Lizards, which this year was the best team in Major League Lacrosse.

The hours leading up to the call from Lizards coach Joseph Spallina were tense. O’Shaughnessy –– 6 feet 5, 230 pounds –– was busily weeding the garden, trying to keep his mind off the draft. “I was checking my phone all day,” he said.

When the call finally came, he said, “I was really, really happy. It was getting kind of late. It was excitement and relief.”

Drive and potential
O’Shaughnessy, 22, grew up playing youth lacrosse, starting in fifth grade. At Chaminade High School he played four years of lacrosse and three of football, before Lehigh University recruited him to play Division I lacrosse.

“What we saw in Dylan was a high ceiling for athletic potential, incredible work ethic and competitive spirit,” said Lehigh’s head coach, Kevin Cassese. “He wanted to win, and he wanted to be great. He willed and worked his way into a professional-caliber player over the course of his Lehigh career.”

Cassese encouraged O’Shaughnessy to pursue a professional lacrosse career after college. “He grew as a lacrosse player,” Cassese said, “developing into our top offensive threat coming out of the defensive end, which takes incredible skill. He could shoot the ball well over 100 miles per hour.”

O’Shaughnessy played midfield at Chaminade, but at Lehigh switched to long-stick middie. Over his four years at the school, he grew into one of the nation’s top collegiate defensive players, helping Lehigh to Patriot League championships in his freshman and sophomore years. In addition to Lehigh, the Patriot League includes American University, Army, Boston University, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Loyola-Maryland and Navy.

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