PressBox recently chatted with Navy men’s lacrosse junior Dan Daly about why he chose to come to Annapolis, being teammates with his brother and more. The 5-foot-10, 188-pound goalie posted a 10.69 goals-against average and a .535 save percentage en route to second-team All-Patriot League honors in 2024. Daly is a native of Wayne, N.J., and graduate of Wayne Hills High School.
PressBox: How did you first become interested in lacrosse?
Dan Daly: I started playing lacrosse in the third grade. I’m from Wayne, N.J. The area that I’m from is not exactly a super lacrosse hotbed, specifically my town. We’re mostly known for football. But in the third grade, my group of friends that I was playing football with all started picking up lacrosse and I hopped on the train. That’s how I got involved in it.
PB: Who was the biggest influence on your game growing up?
DD: Brett Queener was a goalie. He played in MLL for many years. I remember growing up watching him and wanting to play like him and be the same type of goalie that he was.
PB: When did you start playing goalie?
DD: I probably started playing in sixth grade and then was mixing between midfield and goalie up until eighth grade. Once eighth grade and high school hit, I started playing goalie full time.
PB: What did you like about goalie?
DD: I think what really enticed me was the idea that you could be the last line of defense and save the game when everything fell through. If there was a one-on-one shot or maybe the defense broke down, you had a say to make that final save and block the shot. I thought that was really cool.
PB: Why did you choose to go to Navy?
DD: I think it was a combination of things. Growing up, I didn’t know much about the Naval Academy at all. Both my grandfathers were Marines, so that’s the extent of the military service in my family. But I think growing up, my dad was a cop and my mom was a nurse. Their fundamental ideas of service definitely have played into my morals and what I believe in. I think as I got closer to having to pick a school for college, I think that [with] the guys here on the lacrosse team specifically I felt I fit in the most here compared to some other schools just because of the brotherhood that is here and beyond once you get into the military service. It’s something very special and I really was [drawn to it].
PB: What is ocean engineering?
DD: Ocean engineering is basically any engineering [with] costal or off-shore structures. It could have to do with beaches or oil platforms or piers, stuff like that. In my freshman year when we picked majors I decided on doing ocean engineering. I never really had a passion for that, but once I came here I started to enjoy it a little bit more because I saw the opportunities and different pathways it can get me to. I’ve always liked the ocean a lot. Hopefully one day I’ll stay around the ocean when I’m older.
PB: What’s your favorite memory so far at Navy?
DD: Probably the biggest, most exciting, fun win that I was a part of last year was the [10-9 overtime win at Hopkins]. That was early on in our season just because we went down big in the first quarter, 6-1. I was struggling a little bit in net and our team seemed to not have the confidence yet in the game and then right at halftime we just turned it around. Max Hewitt ended up scoring the game-winning goal. That was so much fun because they were a loaded team. That allowed us to start believing in ourselves a little bit more as the season went on.
PB: Who’s your best friend on the team and what’s a story that underscores your friendship?
DD: I would say [my brother Andrew] and my roommate Mac Haley. [Haley and I] have been together since our freshman year. We’re in the same company at school, so we’ve been living together now for three years. I think [we] have just gotten super close because of all the shared experiences because we see each other every single day. We have to deal with the military side of things together. We went through plebe summer together, so a lot of the stuff that we’ve gone through the past three years we’ve been together. It’s been fun to grow up here with him.
PB: What’s it like to be on the same team as your brother?
DD: He’s a freshman this year, so I’ll be with him this year and the following year. It’s been really cool just because he’s been able to hang out with me all the time and [we’ve gotten] to spend more time together. We didn’t go to the same high school, so this is the first time we’re playing together all our lives. It’s super awesome. Hopefully one day I’ll be able to throw him an outlet pass or something and he can go down and score. They switched him to LSM. He was originally a d-middie. It’s been awesome to have him in front of me on defense. It’s really fun. I’m going to cherish the whole entire time that I get to have him here.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about Annapolis?
DD: There’s a lot. Honestly, being right next to the river’s pretty cool just because during the summer if guys have houses that are near the water you can go on their boats. A lot of cool restaurants that are waterfront have really cool venues, so I like that aspect of it.
PB: Who was a player you looked up to when you first got to Navy?
DD: The guy that I looked up to the most just because I was spending a lot of time with him was Pat Ryan. He was the goalie here before me. He taught me the ways of being a goalie here, especially being such a good teammate. Obviously when you’re in a goalie room in college it’s very competitive because only one guy gets the starting job. Me and him were fighting for it the whole entire time, but he showed me how to be a good teammate because even if we were competing for a spot, we both had each other’s backs the whole entire time. He was really fun to be teammates with.
PB: How do you develop as a goalie at the college level?
DD: I think the biggest thing for me has been the mental side of the game. I think that I came into college my freshman year at a pretty high level technique-wise and everything. Obviously I definitely added some things to my game technique-wise that have made me better and more fluid. But I think the thing for me, there was a big learning curve from my freshman to my sophomore year on the mental side of things. It’s a really long and hard season going from the fall to the spring. My freshman year day in and day out I was putting pressure on myself to be the starting goalie. If I wasn’t playing [well] one day at practice, then my whole world was falling down on top of me. That eventually weighed down a lot on me, so it made it hard for me to play well. I think come my sophomore year I kind of changed my perspective and felt that every single day was a building block to getting better for the spring. That allowed me to take some pressure off myself, play more loose and just enjoy the game more. It helped me become a better player as the season went on.
PB: What advice do you have for younger players going through the recruiting process?
DD: I think the thing I would tell someone who’s going through the recruiting process is to reach out to as many schools as possible. I think that if you start doing that early on it definitely helps just to get your name in front of coaches, especially if you’re coming from a place where … there’s not a hotbed of lacrosse. If you could get your name in front of coaches by emailing them, contacting them, learn more about the schools, that’s probably the best piece of advice I have.
PB: What goals do you have for after lacrosse?
DD: After lacrosse, I’m not really sure about my career path in the Navy just because I’m a little ways away, but I hope to have a successful career in the Navy. I’m not really set on doing 5 or 20 years. Some guys really want to make a career out of it. I’m not sure. I just want to be doing something [where] I’m happy, so just looking forward to having a good career in the Navy.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Navy Athletics
Issue 291: February / March 2025
Originally published Feb. 19, 2025