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Light Drizzle Fog/Mist Former Lady Vikings continue lax careers
Coming from a high school where many students go on to play college sports, Shannon Duncan and Emma Schait know they are still representing Seaford even as their suit up at the next level.
Duncan and Schait are both playing college lacrosse and enjoying their experiences. The former teammates at Seaford High School have both stayed within New York, as Duncan plays for Division II Pace University in Westchester, and Schait is at Division I Stony Brook.
Pace University’s team is only in its second season of existence, and Duncan, a freshman, is part of the second class of players to join the Setters. This year’s team has already surpassed last year’s win total. Duncan has tallied three goals and an assist through her first nine games, including scores in her last two games — an April 13 victory over Southern Connecticut State University and a win over Assumption College three days later.
“I liked how it was a new program, and I liked what we were building here,” Duncan said of why she picked Pace to continue her lacrosse career. “We’ve beaten a couple of really good teams and we’re doing well.”
Duncan, who plays midfield, was on Seaford’s varsity squad for four years. In 2014, she received the Nassau County Unsung Hero award, and was an All-Conference selection during her senior year. She was part of a high school team that went to the playoffs all four years, including the semifinals her first three seasons.
“Seaford was a good program,” she said of how it prepared her to play at the next level. “I played with a lot of good players throughout the years.”
Duncan explained the she uses her size — she is 5-foot-8 — to her advantage. “Everyone on my team says I’m a good attacker,” she said. “I like to go to the cage a lot and I’m aggressive.”
Schait played her freshman year for Albany, but decided to transfer to Stony Brook this year. “I wanted to come home,” she said. “I missed a lot of things about Long Island.”
She played on Seaford’s varsity squad for six years, totaling 331 goals including 69 as a senior. Joining the team as a seventh-grader meant playing with and against seniors, but Schait said she never felt intimated and always was welcomed by her teammates. She enjoyed a string of five consecutive playoff appearances.
“We had good team chemistry,” said Schait, all All-County player three times and captain her last three years. “We knew what everyone expected of everyone else.”
Schait said she has felt the same level of acceptance since transferring to Stony Brook. The highlight of her season was an eight-day road trip in which her team played games against Northwestern University in Chicago, University of Southern California and San Diego State University. Although the Seawolves lost two close contests to start the trip, they won the final game against San Diego.
“I got to go to places I’ve never been before,” she said. “That was the best part, to be able to do something like that with your really close friends.”
For both girls, sports has been a big part of their lives for many years. Duncan began playing lacrosse with the Police Activities League when she was in third-grade. She also played soccer and basketball in high school. When deciding on a sport for college, she chose lacrosse. “I realized that I was a lot more passionate about it,” she said.
Duncan also has a twin brother, James, who attends Nassau Community College. He is on the lacrosse team, but red-shirted his freshman year, meaning he is will start playing as a sophomore to extend his eligibility another season.
Schait started playing lacrosse in kindergarten, when her parents signed her up for a summer camp in Massapequa. She continued every summer until she was old enough to join the PAL team. As she got older, she played travel lacrosse for the Long Island Wave.
Additionally, she played for the Brine All-American and School Girls All-American tournament teams, which gave her a chance to showcase her skills for college coaches.
Schait, who plays attack, said she is hoping to be part of a team at Stony Brook that not only makes it to the playoffs, but advances to the Final Four. But before the playoffs begin, the final game of her season will take her too familiar territory. “I am excited to play Albany, excited to be back in my old stomping grounds,” she said, adding that last year, she played against Stony Brook. “I think it’s just coincidental that I ended up staying in conference.”
She is studying education, and aspires to be an English teacher. While Schait said that balancing her school and sports schedules have been easy so far, she sees that getting tougher when she has to begin classroom observations.
Duncan is studying nursing at Pace, and hopes to work in a hospital in the future.
Both players noted that playing college lacrosse is very different from the high school level. “It’s definitely a lot harder,” Duncan said. “There’s girls that are a lot older than you and more experienced.”
“It’s definitely a faster pace,” Schait added. “That’s something I needed to adjust to. It’s definitely more physical, as well.”
