Stevenson men’s lacrosse senior midfielder Lewy Anania recently spoke with PressBox about his favorite memories from playing at Marriotts Ridge, a player he looked up to early in his career at Stevenson and more. The Ellicott City, Md., native picked up 28 ground balls in 2019 and picked up 10 ground balls during the shortened 2020 season.

PressBox: How did you become interested in lacrosse?
Lewy Anania: I would say I’ve probably been playing since I was 4 or 5, just doing clinics. I was always just in the sport. Definitely my godmother, [Terri Lang], who is also my cousin, she played lacrosse at Loyola. I’m pretty sure she talked to my mom, [Cass], about it. I started playing clinics, whether it was indoor or outdoor, when I was 4 or 5. Since then, I haven’t stopped.

PB: Who was the biggest influence on your game growing up?
LA: If we’re talking about a player, I would definitely say Paul Rabil. He definitely is someone when I was a kid growing up was always just a big lacrosse name, trying to get the sport bigger, so I always wanted to be like him as a player. And then as an individual, I would just say just all my coaches. Like I said, I started playing when I was really younger. I was lucky to have all good coaches. Each and every one of my coaches helped me. My parents really never played, so when I started playing it was really just my coaches who would give me the background and help me learn how to use my stick and all that stuff.

PB: What are your favorite memories from playing at Marriotts Ridge?
LA: Definitely winning the [Howard County] championship my senior year. That was pretty special. We never won it outright as our own. [When] we won it before, we had to share it with another school. But being a senior, being able to bring that solely back to our school, that was pretty special. My junior year as well, we beat Glenelg, which is a really big rival of ours. We beat them in the playoffs at their home field, and that was definitely another game that was pretty special for me. I’ll always remember that. Those are the types of games that you want to win. That’s why you play the game, and we were lucky enough to do that.

PB: Why did you choose to come to Stevenson?
LA: Obviously I’m from Maryland, so being local I definitely wanted to stay local. My parents would be able to come see my games. I would be able to stay in the area. You don’t have to go far to play good lacrosse in Maryland. The atmosphere of the team – we preach being a family – and I think when you come here, you get that sense right away. You walk in the locker room and every guy who is on your team has your back, and as a player, that’s all you really can ask for. And also if you come to Stevenson, you come in here to compete and you come in here to try to win a national championship. That’s what I want to do.

PB: What’s your favorite memory so far at Stevenson?
LA: I would definitely say my sophomore year [in 2019 when] we won our first playoff game against Franklin & Marshall. That was pretty special. I would go with that. I would say beating Franklin & Marshall away. It was the second round of the NCAA [Division III] playoffs. That was pretty cool. That was the furthest we’ve made it since I’ve been here, so hopefully we’re able to go further but as of right now I would definitely say that’s my favorite one.

PB: What’s your favorite thing about Stevenson and Owings Mills?
LA: Stevenson, it’s what you make of it. It’s so small that you have to be so close with everybody. I think our team’s so close because you can hit up anybody and say, “Hey, you want to hang out?” and they’re good. And Owings Mills, it’s different. It’s not like a normal college [town]. You can go out and you can go to places, or you can just hang out with your friends. It’s a little bit of a different feel, but once you get used to it I think Owings Mills just gives you more of a home feel, and some people want that.

PB: Who’s your best friend on the team and what’s a story that underscores your friendship?
LA: Right now one of my best friends on the team would be Jake Magaw. He’s a defender. He’s No. 18. Just underlining our friendship, I would just say [we’ve] been through a lot, always can count on him. He always has my back. You’ve got to respect that, always [have] to keep those guys around.

PB: Who was a player you looked up to early in your career at Stevenson?
LA: Definitely Dylan Harris. He was a defender. He wore No. 36 for us. I played with him my freshman and sophomore year. He’s actually a Carroll County boy, so he’s local, too. He went to South Carroll. When I came to Stevenson as a young guy, we were such a family type of team. I still remember, we showed up that first Saturday night when I met Dylan, he came up [and] introduced himself and since then, it was just like we were boys. He always had my back, always pushed me, always looked out for me. As a young guy coming into the program like this, having [that] type of older player look after you, have your back, that helps a lot. Definitely made me feel more confident, feel like I could play, feel like I could hang with everybody right away.

PB: What advice would you give to younger players?
LA: It’s all about the little things. It’s funny that everybody stresses this, but as a lacrosse player if you can really get good stick skills, you can be any type of player you want. Learning how to be quicker or be faster or do better moves, those things come. But if you can really, as a young player, get your stick in your hands and become very good with your stick with both your right and left, opportunities will come for you.

PB: What are your goals for after lacrosse?
LA: I really love this sport. I love sports in general. I definitely want to get into coaching and personal training. Stick around the game and try to be a part of it in that way now.

PB: What did you do last spring as far as lacrosse after the season was canceled?
LA: I actually got surgery in July on my hip. Leading up to that, I was just trying to keep the stick in my hand just playing wall ball and obviously I got surgery on my hip in July. Since that, I’ve just been rehabbing, getting ready to play [at the start of the season].

PB: Had the hip injury been a nagging issue?
LA: It happened in my sophomore year at some point, just been playing on it for a while, and then quarantine happened and it was about time to get healthy and get it fixed. I tore my labrum, so I got my labrum repaired and some other stuff inside.

Photo Credit: Sabina Moran/Stevenson Athletics

Issue 267: February/March 2021

Luke Jackson

See all posts by Luke Jackson. Follow Luke Jackson on Twitter at @luke_jackson10