June 28, 2006

A scan of the 2006 U.S. men's national team roster reads like a who's-who of American lacrosse over the past decade. There's Pat McCabe, the three-time first-team All-American defenseman who has anchored two Major League Lacrosse championship teams with the Long Island Lizards. There's Ryan Boyle, the four-time All-American attackman out of Princeton who copped Rookie of the Year honors in both the MLL and the National Lacrosse League. And, of course, there are the three Powell brothers -- Casey, Ryan and Mike -- who together combined for 10 first-team All-American selections at Syracuse.

But wearing No. 15 for Team USA when it takes the field at the 10th ILF World Championships in July in London, Ontario, will be a player whose name may not bring with it that same kind of recognition.

Not yet, anyway.

In some circles, Chris Garrity is a well-known figure. They remember him at St. Mary's School in his hometown of Annapolis, Md., where he competed for playing time with fellow goalie Tillman Johnson. He'll always be remembered at Penn State, where he helped the Nittany Lions reach the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history as a senior in 2003. And fans of the Boston Cannons have become well aware of Garrity's prowess between the pipes.

But with no national championships, no All-American awards and no endorsement deals hawking his own line of goalie sticks, many casual lacrosse fans still have no idea who Chris Garrity is.

So how does a guy who never even made first-team All-ECAC find his way onto a U.S. roster loaded with former first-team All-Americans?

By earning it.

Over the last 12 months, Garrity's stock has risen like one of the single-engine planes he loves to fly. With success has come confidence, and with more confidence has come dizzying results on the field.

They didn't come easily, though.

After enjoying a successful MLL rookie season with Boston in 2003, when he started seven games and saved 57 percent of the shots he faced, earning team Rookie of the Year honors, Garrity's game slipped in 2004. He never got comfortable in net, and when he went down with a knee injury in late June, he was allowing more than half the shots he faced to get by him.

Despite finishing dead last in the league in goals allowed, Boston's high-powered offense carried the team to the MLL championship game against Philadelphia. Garrity had returned from the knee injury to play the final game of the regular season (an 18-17 loss at Philly), and was solid in a 24-16 semifinal win over Baltimore. Facing the Barrage for the second time in eight days, at home this time, Garrity had a golden opportunity to make a statement both to himself and to the league. A victory would have gone a long way toward putting his name out there among the game's elite goalkeepers.

Unfortunately for Garrity, it was not meant to be. He and Philadelphia goalie Greg Cattrano each made 19 saves in the championship game, but with the Barrage coming out on top, 13-11, it was Cattrano who was named MVP.

While the disappointing season could have been a major blow to his ego, Garrity received a boost of confidence during the offseason when Boston traded goalie Trevor Tierney (who'll share time in goal for the U.S. team this summer) to Baltimore for attackman Mark Millon, effectively sending the message that Garrity was their guy.

From the first time Garrity stepped on the field in 2005, it became apparent that the Cannons had made a wise decision.

"In 2003, I had a good year coming in right out of college," Garrity says. "My second year in the league was definitely an off year. I feel that was probably a result of not having a college season leading up to the MLL. Before last season, I made more of an effort to get some shots in during the offseason and prepare myself a little better."

Garrity's first test came in week one, in a championship game rematch with Philadelphia. This time, Boston held on for a 13-12 win as Garrity made 14 of his 20 saves in the second half. Facing a potent Rochester Rattlers team in week two, he helped spark a 7-1 fourth quarter run with a point-blank stuff of Casey Powell on a breakaway in an 18-10 win. His 19 saves earned him MLL Defensive Player of the Week honors.

Boston completed the season sweep of Rochester with a 16-14 win the following week, and the team's 3-0 start had Garrity feeling comfortable and confident in net. The surge, both physical and emotional, couldn't have come at a better time. In three days, he'd face the biggest challenge of his lacrosse life.

More than 200 of the country's best players applied for a tryout with the U.S. national team. Head coach John Desko and his staff oversaw 120 of them -- including 12 goalies -- who were invited to the campus of UMBC in June for three-and-a-half grueling days of games, workouts and intense evaluation.

"It was crazy," Garrity says. "Just getting there and checking in, hanging out with the guys and realizing what we're all fighting for." At stake were just 23 spots on the coveted U.S. roster, and only two for goalies. The tryout consisted of three games each day for three and a half days, with different teammates and opponents in each contest. Adjusting to new lines and new players is a challenge for anyone, but for the goalies, who split time and thus had only two quarters to showcase their skills in each game, the challenge was enormous."

"During that half, it's kind of all or nothing," he adds. "You don't know what's going to happen. [The attackmen] are fighting just as hard as you are. Some of the games, I got scored on a lot, and I didn't feel like I played very well. It's kind of about maintaining a level, so that even if you have one bad game, the next game you get out there and just turn it around. That's kind of how I went about the whole camp. Just because I had a bad game, the next game I'd forget about it and just try to do my best."

At the conclusion of the whirlwind tryout, Garrity had little idea of where he stood or what his actual chances of making the team were. But just hours after leaving camp, he received notice from an excited Lars Tiffany -- his assistant coach at Penn State -- that he'd made the team.

"Chris had a terrific tryout," Desko says. "He's a very good athlete in excellent physical condition. He's very good one-on-one, has great quickness and reflexes, and is just solid in goal. We're very happy to have him involved with Team USA."

Garrity is far from what you might call a "typical jock." Growing up less than an hour away from Washington, D.C., in the same city as the United States Naval Academy helped instill in him a strong sense of patriotism. At Penn State, Garrity enrolled in the challenging electrical engineering program, and today he works for KTA Engineering in Herndon, Va., where his co-workers struggle to comprehend his all-world abilities as a lacrosse player.

"They think it's funny that I play in the MLL," he says.

With no national championships, no All-American awards and no endorsement deals hawking his own line of goalie sticks, many casual lacrosse fans still have no idea who Chris Garrity is.

But growing up the son of a commercial airline pilot also gave Garrity a unique take on the world. His father, Richard, would often take him out flying, and as soon as Chris found the time in his busy schedule, he pursued his pilot's license so that he could be up there on his own. Unlike his father, however, Chris' reasons for flying are less about getting from point A to point B than they are about seeing the world from a different angle.

"It's definitely an escape for me," he says. "When I go up, it helps me clear my mind and not have to worry about too much. You always gotta be aware when you're flying, but it's definitely neat. It gives you a different view. It gets you thinking."

Although he admits to being a bit nervous the first time he ever had to land a plane, it's been nothing but smooth landings for Garrity on the runway. Back on earth, however, his life seems to be in a steady ascent. In addition to making the U.S. team last year (the first Penn State alum ever to do so), he also got engaged to his girlfriend. And once the MLL season got rolling again after the tryouts, Garrity's confidence continued to soar.

With two more wins, Boston became the first team in league history to start a season 5-0. On July 16, Garrity set a career high with 25 saves against Baltimore. The following week, he made seven of his 17 saves in the final 15 minutes of an 11-10 win over Philadelphia, sweeping the season series.

On Aug. 8, Garrity was named team MVP of the Cannons, and on Aug. 20, after leading the league in wins (10), save percentage (.596) and goals against average (12.5), he was named MLL Goalie of the Year.

"I think the way my tryout went was kind of the result of our first three games of the MLL season," Garrity says. "I just was feeling comfortable in the net, seeing the ball. All last year I was kind of in the groove. I definitely feel that that helped me coming into the tryout, and coming out of the tryout. Making the U.S. team was a big boost for the rest of the season. If the first three games of the MLL season hadn't gone well for me, it probably would have been hard to get my act together for the tryout. It kind of worked out great."

And if all goes according to plan, 2006 will be even better. Boston's off to another great start, with Garrity ranking again among league leaders in saves (94, second) and save percentage (.595, fifth). The Cannons are 5-1, tied with Philadelphia for first place in the Eastern Conference and the MLL's best mark. The teams meet Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Philadelphia.

"Last summer was getting engaged, making the U.S. team and Goalie of the Year for the MLL," he says. "This summer, hopefully I'll top that with a gold medal and an MLL championship and then getting married. I'm excited for that."

Maybe then, everyone will know who Chris Garrity is.

Note: This article appeared in the April 2006 issue of Lacrosse magazine, a member benefit of US Lacrosse. Become a member today to begin receiving issues of the sport's flagship publication.