PressBox recently chatted with Stevenson men’s lacrosse graduate student Andrew Searing about winning a conference title a year ago, recovering from a torn ACL and more. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound midfielder scored 33 goals, dished out 11 assists and picked up 21 ground balls in 2024. Searing is a native of Seaford, N.Y., and graduate of Seaford High School.
PressBox: How did you first become interested in lacrosse?
Andrew Searing: Ever since I was little, since I was born, my whole dad’s side of the family has always played lacrosse. Actually, my uncle [George] is a legendary high school coach. He’s actually in the High School National Hall of Fame for coaching. I just picked it up from my cousins and I fell in love with it [after that].
PB: Who was the biggest influence on your game growing up?
AS: My dad [Chris] was a big influence, always coaching me in rec leagues. Paul Rabil, I always aspired to be like him. Same thing with Gary Gait, the way he moved the ball and his IQ in lacrosse. And also Tom Schreiber — the best shooter that I’ve ever seen, honestly.
PB: How much did your uncle help you?
AS: He wasn’t my coach very often because he was always with the varsity guys, but whenever he would coach me, he was always very hard on me and always wanted me to be the best, so he was always on me.
PB: Why did you choose to go to Stevenson?
AS: To start, it would be the school, the facilities and when I came on campus, I wanted to play for one of the best coaches. That was going to be Paul Cantabene. He showed the most interest in me and made me feel that I was going to make a difference here. That’s really what drove me to be here. He was also one of the best to play lacrosse, so I wanted to play for him.
PB: What’s your favorite memory at Stevenson so far?
AS: I would have to say there would be two. My junior year when we beat Dickinson, [15-14], in overtime, probably one of the most fun and exciting games I’ve ever been a part of in my whole lacrosse career. The crowd was crazy because it was the Mustang Classic. The whole atmosphere of being in Mustang Stadium, two top-ranked teams going against each other and it came down to the wire. The other one would be last year in our second-round [NCAA] Tournament game against Union. We were up for awhile and then we [went] back and forth. Get to the fourth quarter, it comes down to the wire. They scored two crucial goals and we just held on to it and then we made it to the third round.
PB: What did it mean to win the MAC Commonwealth championship with Callum Robinson on your mind?
AS: It was a very emotional week for the entire Stevenson community. We all took it very personally. We felt like Cal was there carrying us the whole week. We put our heads down and said, “We’re doing this for Cal.” The feeling when we won that championship, [as] we’re all celebrating, the 2013 national [championship] team came on the field. To see their faces of joy and tears, it was just chilling. It was something you don’t feel very often of how sad that week was. We tried to make it a lot better, if that makes sense.
PB: What made it possible for you to score 33 goals in 2024?
AS: I actually [tore the ACL in my left knee late in the 2023 season]. I can’t score 33 goals without everyone around me, all my teammates. Just try to get in the right spot for them and … try to do my job on the field, like Coach always says. The year before that, I played well. I didn’t think I played my best. Last year, I still don’t think I played my best. I still think I can do more for the team.
PB: What happened to cause the injury?
AS: I caught the ball sweeping and then I jabbed to try to go under my defender and I kind of got caught. My leg got caught.
PB: How was rehab after your knee injury?
AS: It was grueling. It really opened up my eyes to, “You can’t take any days off. Nothing’s granted.” It was probably the hardest experience of my entire life. It was painful, kind of let me think a lot, sitting on the sideline for the fall and having to watch my teammates play and help them throughout everything.
PB: What’s the most difficult thing about ACL rehab?
AS: The worst thing would probably just be relearning everything. You get surgery and you lose all your muscle and you essentially have to relearn how to walk and relearn how to run and then relearn how to cut and all that. … There’s always in the back of the head, “Do you think I’m ever going to be able to play again? Do you think I’ll ever be as good as I was?” That was always in the back of my head.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about Owings Mills?
AS: Just how close everything is and everything that’s around. It’s not in the middle of nowhere. You can go to Baltimore and hang out, all the things to do around here.
PB: Who’s your best friend on the team and what’s a story that underscores your friendship?
AS: I would have to say Sam Harris and Jack McKenna. I’ve been roommates with Sam since my freshman year and Jack my sophomore year. We have just bonded and have been so close ever since.
PB: Who’s a player you looked up to when you first got to Stevenson?
AS: It would have to be one of my captains, Cam Leydig, and Jake Harrington. Cam would always pull me to the side, help me, give me tips. He took me and a couple other freshmen under his wing, just like a lot of other seniors did. He was always positive on everything. Every day since then he’s always been there for me. I’d have a tough game or I’d have a tough practice, he’d always be there to talk to me and keep me calm and put me on the right track. Even to this day, I’ll get random texts from him. He’s not on the team anymore, obviously, but I’ll get texts from him before practice some days. He’ll be like, “Relax, do your thing, let the ball come to you.” Just words that’ll keep me in a level-headed mind space that he knows. Jake Harrington, I always loved his game because he was such a physical player. Same thing with Cam, they were both very physical players and I try to take as much as I can from both of their games. I took a lot from Jake with the way he carried himself — same thing with Cam.
PB: What advice do you have for younger players going through the recruiting process?
AS: You’ve just got to be patient and always be vigilant about contacting coaches even if they’re not contacting you. Be organized when you go about getting recruited. The most important thing I would say is make sure it’s the right fit for you. Don’t just go to a school because all the things you get or just because it’s going to be cool. You want to go somewhere that you’re going to grow and you’re going to learn and where you’re going to learn to be the best lacrosse player you can possibly be. Make sure that it has a major you want where you can go to be a student. You have to be a student-athlete to play lacrosse.
PB: What are your goals for after lacrosse?
AS: I graduated last year with a cybersecurity and digital forensics degree. I’m doing my masters now, so my goal after I graduate with my masters would be to possibly work somewhere in the government or in the digital forensics field or even the cyber field depending on what I get first and then try to grow from there to see what I’d like to do more.
Photo Credit: Sabina Moran/SKM Photography