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ric Wolf’s then-girlfriend, Kelly, was volunteering for Long Island University’s men’s lacrosse team when a tall, lanky freshman walked up to her in spring, 2020. He was in a new place, thousands of miles from home in California, entering practice with a brand new team.

Wolf, the third-year coach of the Sharks, watched his girlfriend look up and hand a post-practice meal to the freshman. She hadn’t met the new goaltender. “Hey, who are you?” she asked.

“I’m the king. You don’t know who I am?,” he responded.

She looked perplexed. Then, he cracked a smirk and laughed. “No, I’m just kidding,” he said. “I’m Will Mark.”

But Mark had every reason to believe he was the king of Long Island. Even on a team that had just jumped from Division II to Division I lacrosse Mark was primed to be the guy. He helped LIU — who started 1-6 in a COVID-19-shortened 2020 campaign — win seven consecutive games as he blossomed into one of the conference’s best goaltenders on a team full of D-2 talent  

Then, Mark committed to Syracuse for his graduate year.

It was always going to be SU, the only school Wolf ever heard Mark talk about. As a goaltender who began his lacrosse lessons in Germany before growing up in Danville, California, Mark had few opportunities. Mark has always considered himself an “underdog,” and Syracuse in 2023, coming off of a historically bad season with questionable goalie play, fits the bill.

“He was really just stoic and kind of (had a) quiet confidence in a way,” former Long Island defensive coordinator Jack Runkel said. “A little bit of suave about him.”

On Oct. 2, 2018, Wolf learned Long Island would be merging its Post and Brooklyn campuses and moving to the Division-I level starting in fall 2019. He had to be in New York City the next morning as a LIU representative for the announcement. Wolf was nervous. He and his staff had recruited Division-II players; goaltenders like Mark weren’t even going to cross their desk as possible recruits. He liked his goalie room, but they didn’t have “that dude.”

Wolf’s message was simple: “Everybody stop what you’re doing and find the goalie.” He needed to find the backstop to make LIU competitive with the Northeast Conference. He’d heard of Mark’s name through watching his clips from Maverik Showtime, but hadn’t placed Mark on his radar because he was far outside of Long Island’s talent pool. But, then-assistant Brendan Schroeder, whose friend coached at Vermont, came to Wolf with Mark’s name as someone to target.

Mark was finishing up his career at Proctor Academy (Calif.) where he played in the national championship as a junior and became an All-League product as a senior. He’d committed to the Catamounts as a sophomore in high school, but as their recruiting class grew, the possibility of Mark making an immediate impact — or even seeing the field — dwindled. His grades weren’t on par with a typical Vermont admit and was offered less money. 

“That’s when I had the option to stay committed and see what happened or explore elsewhere,” Mark said. “I was getting a lot more money from LIU and a position to start right away. It was a blessing in disguise.”

Mark felt like it was a bit of a downgrade going from an American East school to a brand new Division-I program, but he liked the challenge. He first met with Runkel who spent about seven minutes warming him up. Runkel took another LIU player and set him up on the left side of the goal. He then told Mark to face the player while Runkel stood on the right side. Then, Runkel received a pass and took a shot on goal.

As the session went on, Runkel varied his shot selection, arm angle and trajectory, throwing in wrinkles to the practice as a way to know Mark as a goalie. Not only did he notice how tall Mark was, but he also noticed Mark’s ability to stretch out and span across almost the entire net. Runkel was impressed with Mark’s skill  to gather control out of errant shots. Long Island had found its “final piece of the puzzle.” 

Mark came in with every intention to “shake the room.” But, no one would have guessed that he  would lead the nation in his first season with 15.29 saves per game. 

“I just feel like I’ve always been an underdog. In youth lacrosse, I was never the first pick, I was never the A-team goalie,” Mark said. “That’s what keeps me up at night. That’s what lights my fire.”

From first to fourth grade, Mark’s father, Chris, worked in Heidelberg, Germany. At the American-International school he attended, one of his friend’s fathers that had played lacrosse started a small camp to teach three or four kids, including Mark, the sport’s fundamentals. Twice a week for about 30-45 minutes, the kids would toss around a lacrosse ball and learn various skills.

Then, prior to the start of fifth grade, Mark’s family moved to Danville. Mark joined a local lacrosse team as well as the school team. Though it wasn’t necessarily a hotbed at the time, the area soon produced players that committed to Princeton, Georgetown and North Carolina, including Syracuse defender Caden Kol. 

Mark was thrown into the mix against some of the nation’s best talent, but the pair of goalies on his C-club team stopped showing up to practice. Mark had seen the speed at which lacrosse balls came flying in and noticed the various bruises that appeared on them after each practice. His dad warned him about the position, but Mark saw an opportunity. Mark looked past the physicality of the position. He saw that goalies got their own pads, helmet, a goalie coach and a larger stick. “I’ll do it,” he said at practice.

So, Mark  took over and became a highly-touted goalie prospect out of high school. Wolf knew he wanted his goalie to have confidence. A starting goalie, Wolf said, should act and feel like a starting quarterback. He was the starting position and the blockade between a defense in transition and goals. He’d rather have a goalie that was arrogant — one that thought of himself as the king — than one that second-guessed himself, Wolf said.

Although Mark earned NEC Defensive Player of Year honors in back to back seasons, his save percentage never crossed 57.7% because of a lack of proper defenders to help out. Wolf said he moved players around into defender positions — specifically undersized attackmen — hindering Long Island’s ability to stop a barrage of shots. Mark saved the most shots in the country, but allowed 12.18 goals per game during his three seasons with the Sharks. 

Matt Gill, a volunteer assistant coach, worked with Mark on becoming a mentally strong goaltender. Mark, who considers himself a perfectionist, had to quickly mature into someone that put missed opportunities and conceded goals behind him.

Now, after allowing a goal, Mark relies on one of two breathing techniques. He’ll tap his helmet twice with his stick to settle himself. 

“It takes a toll mentally, and it’s just one of those things that it’s really hard to ask of a freshman goalie,” Runkel said.

The other technique is used before a game’s start and as it is restarting out of halftime. Mark takes a long breath in through his nose until his lungs are almost full. Then, he’ll quickly inhale in and hold his breath for a few seconds. He’ll stare at one spot on the field, beginning to center himself in the moment. Then, just before the whistle sounds, he draws out a long exhale to slow down his heart rate.

He’ll do that again as he takes the field, hoping to rectify a position that struggled mightily for Syracuse last season. He knows of the questions surrounding whether his play can translate to the Atlantic Coast Conference. He’s used to the doubt and the outside noise permeating through each decision. Why goalie? Why Long Island? Why Syracuse?

Mark knows he can perform at a high level, but there’s nothing guaranteed at SU, not even a starting position. What’s guaranteed is the chance to return a former giant to its glory and to build up another program again and attach his name to its rise. 

“It was simple,” Mark said. “It’s one of the greatest lacrosse programs in the history of the sport, just being here when they have a little chip on their shoulder and something to prove is exactly the type of person I am.”

Photograph is Courtesy of SU Athletics

Published on February 2, 2023 at 12:04 am

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt