While most of his teammates on the UVA men’s lacrosse team returned home for the summer after reaching the NCAA semifinals in May, third-year midfielder Ryan Colsey left for an entirely new endeavor: playing Junior A box lacrosse in Canada. Colsey joined the Coquitlam Junior Adanacs as a forward in the middle of their summer season, and ultimately helped deliver the Minto Cup back to the club for the first time since 2018.
In contrast to most American boys’ lacrosse players, Colsey began playing box lacrosse in the sixth grade for Superstar Box Lacrosse club. His father, Roy Colsey, a former standout midfielder at Syracuse and Professional Lacrosse Hall of Famer, played both professional field and box lacrosse.
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“My dad started a box lacrosse club team,” said Colsey. “At the time, you were looking at all these great players in college lacrosse, and all of them had played box or were from Canada and had only played box.
“[My dad] got into the U.S. box leagues, and we started playing tournaments, and I fell in love with box.”
Last year, Colsey led the U.S. to a gold medal at the World Junior Lacrosse Championships. In four games, he tallied 25 points (18g, 7a), the most among all players on the team. He caught the attention of some of the top Junior A box lacrosse teams in Canada, prompting coaches to recruit Colsey to their summer roster.
“I explored the options that had reached out, and, after talking with some contacts that I had, they told me Coquitlam was the best fit, not only for their legacy of winning the Minto Cup, but their coaching staff is phenomenal, and just [have] a really talented group of players.”
Colsey admitted the transition between field and box lacrosse is not an easy one, especially for American players not accustomed to the indoor game.
“I think it’s hard for a lot of Americans to give up their summer and go play out there,” he said. “It’s a huge difference from what a lot of guys are used to. To change their style of play to be successful in Junior A is a challenge, it really is.”
Box lacrosse features fewer players on a smaller area of play, ice hockey boards as boundaries, and a 4-by-4-foot goal with a goalie in large pads in contrast to the 6-by-6-foot goal in field lacrosse. As a result, box players are forced to find smaller pockets of space to pass the ball, evade defenders and shoot with precision.
“You’re developing a whole new arsenal of tools basically,” Colsey said. “Different ways to finish, different ways to score, different ways of dodging. The game is very technical out there. You have basically no space to operate. Whether that’s shooting, or whether it’s your release points against defensemen, or even just the actual space on the floor.”
Competing against seven other teams in Canada, the Adanacs took first place in the league, winning 15 of their 18 regular season games, as well as securing a perfect 7-0 postseason record. In the playoffs, Colsey led the team with 15 goals and tallied a season-high five goals against the Port Coquitlam Saints to win the British Columbia Junior A Lacrosse (BJCALL).
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Upon winning the postseason, Colsey and the Adanacs earned the opportunity to compete for the Minto Cup in a best-of-three series among the top two teams in Canadian junior A box lacrosse.
“I went out there to win a Minto Cup, that was at the top of my list,” he said. “But you can’t take away from the fact that those skills are going to help me so much in the field game. I’m really excited to see what I can do and what I can use and transfer over to the field game.”
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UVA associate head coach and offensive coordinator Kevin Cassese was more than impressed with Colsey’s performance this offseason.
“From a statistical standpoint, he put up a bunch of really impressive numbers,” said Cassese. “I know he has a box background, but not necessarily at this level. To go and make an impact at that level, and then also to help lead his team to a Minto Cup at the highest stage in junior lacrosse was really impressive, and I’m really proud of him.”
While many of the skills present in the box game differ from field lacrosse, Colsey was able to find success thanks in part to his time under Cassese at UVA.
“There’s a lot more skills that transfer from box to field, just playing at that super high-paced level,” said Colsey. “Specifically at Virginia, we play a very fast-paced brand of lacrosse. That helped the most. We pushed a lot of transition in Coquitlam, and we do the same thing [at UVA].”
In addition to Colsey’s comfort playing uptempo, Cassese hopes to see his shooting ability improve this fall.
“You’re basically playing against [an ice] hockey goalie on a four-by-four net, and there’s very little room to put that ball,” said Cassese. “Your accuracy has to be on point. Typically, when you’re used to that, you can get to the field and see a six-by-six with a goalie that has less padding and just more places to shoot, your accuracy tends to go up.”
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With a quick turnaround after winning the Minto Cup, Colsey promptly returned to Charlottesville to begin his third academic year on Grounds. One of the first people to greet him upon his arrival to Charlottesville was his younger brother, Kyle, a first-year attackman/midfielder and the nation’s No. 4 prospect according to Inside Lacrosse.
“It’s been great just seeing [Kyle] here already,” Colsey said. “He’s one of my best friends, so it’s going to be a lot of fun. The first year I played with him in high school, we won a state championship, and he was amazing that season. We had some really good chemistry. Being able to be back on the field with him is everything.”
With much to look forward to during the fall season, Colsey is grateful for the opportunity with the Coquitlam Adanacs this summer.
“I went out there to win a Minto Cup, that was at the top of my list,” he said. “But you can’t take away from the fact that those skills are going to help me so much in the field game. I’m really excited to see what I can do and what I can use and transfer over to the field game.”