Production on the field, hard work off of it, and an arduous recruiting process finally yielded a bountiful reward for Nate Conry.

The senior star on the Saint Ignatius prep lacrosse team has committed to Canisius College to continue his academic and athletic careers. 

The road to Division I proved to be a long and winding one for Conry. But at the end of the journey, Conry feels fulfilled. 

"It was pretty rigorous. You'll get interest from a team, then it'll fall out," Conry said. "Then you'll get interest from teams you're not super interested in. It's a lot of communication. But I'm happy I found a school I like."

Canisius is the perfect fit for Conry. The Buffalo, New York school offers wonderful academics, a chance to play Division I lacrosse, and excellent connections and networking opportunities for Conry. 

Lacrosse recruiting can be funky. The process is geared towards early recruiting and finding talent in the early stages of high school. Star players can draw scholarship offers before picking up the stick in high school. 

Players who bloom in the later stages of their careers often are looked past. At first, Conry was among the overlooked.

Conry started to show the makings of a great player as a sophomore. During the regular season, Conry played solidly at midfielder and showed nice potential. Then, before the start of the postseason, the coaching staff made a switch.

The head coach at the time, Garen Distelhorst '96, opted to move Conry to attack. The decision changed the course of the season. 

"We had a nice season. The regular season wasn't one of our best because we had a young team," said Distelhorst, now the Director of Lacrosse Operations. "But the coaching staff decided to move Nate to attack towards the end of the season and that triggered that team's run through the playoffs to the state championship. He had a huge part to do with it, he opened the offense and allowed more scoring to occur in a variety of ways."

After low-scoring losses in two games in May, the Wildcats went on a tear leading up to the inaugural OHSAA State Championship. The Lax Cats rolled to seven straight wins, averaging 12.5 goals per game, as opposed to 8.1 goals per game in the previous 15 games.

After playing a key role in the turnaround, finishing with 14 goals and 6 assists, Conry learned a valuable lesson.

"It's not always how you start, it's how you finish," Conry said. "It's been a big theme for the past two years. We had some tough games in the beginning and middle of the season, but when it came to it, we knew how to battle and get to where we wanted to be on June 1."

In 2018, Conry broke through with a remarkable season. As a junior, Conry played a critical part in the offense at both attack and midfield. 

Conry completed the year with eye-popping numbers – 42 goals, 26 assists, and 23 ground balls. Conry played a starring role in ushering the Lax Cats back to the title game last spring. 

"Nate Conry is an unbelievable kid and a great athlete. He's a person who's accepting coaching in a variety of ways throughout his career," Distelhorst said. "He's played multiple positions for us, bouncing back in forth between attack and midfield. The way he accepted moving between attacking and midfield, that can be very difficult, but he accepted it and thrived. He was put in those positions because of his athletic ability and because the team needed him to do something different than what he was comfortable with. Not all kids accept that switch as easily as Nate did.

"He's found huge amounts of success at both positions. I'm so excited for him and for our program. He's a kid who deserves to be playing Division I lacrosse. He's worked so hard for it."

As everyone in the Saint Ignatius lacrosse community hoped, Conry found his match in the offseason.

Conry visited a number of schools and experienced a long recruiting process. But later in the fall, as Conry completed a strong season with the Football Cats at wideout, a big-time school came calling.

"Canisius contacted me first in October. I've been talking back and forth with the coach for a bit. I finally went up for a visit to see campus in the middle of January," Conry said. "From there, I thought it was my best option, because they have a good business school that has a lot of good connections with New York City. That was a big proponent in my decision. Obviously, having the chance to play Division I was a huge factor, too."

In Distelhorst's words, Canisius is a "great landing spot" for the talented young man. 

Canisius offers a top-notch business school for Conry. The senior currently owns a 3.78 GPA and has high aspirations for college and beyond. Conry isn't sure of his exact track, but he's determined to be successful. 

The Golden Griffins also offer a world-class lacrosse program. Canisius reached the NCAA Tournament last season after winning the conference championship. Canisius also offers local connections, with a pair of former Solon Comets and a St. Edward Eagle. Conry follows in the footsteps of Alex Hornung '16, a great Lax Cat who committed to Canisius after a special Saint Ignatius career.

During his visit, Conry loved the program's commitment to practice.

"I've learned the importance of practice. It sets the team mindset. When you're jogging in between drills and doing the little things, it makes the big things much easier," Conry said. "That's a big thing I learned at Ignatius playing lacrosse. During my visit to Canisius, we saw practice and I could definitely tell the sense of urgency with the guys getting the ball in and out of their sticks during drills. Also, I could feel the positive energy, which I really liked."

Before Conry heads off to Canisius, he's excited to cap off his Saint Ignatius lacrosse career.

Conry figures to be a key piece of a strong Wildcats squad in 2019. 

"I definitely want another shot at the state championship. This year is another chance to put Saint Ignatius on the map for lacrosse," Conry said. "We're #7 in the Midwest right now, but we have 3-4 games against some of those top ten teams, so we have a good opportunity to promote the entire program."

Whatever the results of the season, Conry has a bright future ahead.

"Nate is definitely a humble young man," Distelhorst said. "He's a hard worker. He's a leader on the team, because he leads by example. He's not a "rah-rah" kid, but he's very popular with his teammates. Everyone loves and respects him."