When you do something over and over again, it becomes second nature. While Will Mark doesn’t stop every shot thrown his way, he brings consistency to the cage.
“Doing the same thing, day in and day out," Mark said. "Making a plan on things I need to work on, executing that plan and, as I said staying consistent. Getting shots every day. Getting my passes in every day.”
Day by day, he’s earning the trust of Gary Gait and Dave Pietramala, the transfer from LIU making an impact between the pipes, an area where SU struggled a year ago.
“I think they know how seriously I take my training with the position I’m in," Mark said. "They kind of let me do my thing when it comes to that. It’s something that needed to be worked on and why I came in here in the first place. I’m just trying to help the team out in any way I can. Whether that’s personality, someone that people see working hard on the side and try to copy me, or just take to me on the side. I’m just trying to help this team out and make an impact on the players of this team any way possible.”
For his career, Will has done just that: being a model player, showing hard work pays off after notching his 500th career save earlier this season.
“I haven’t really taken a chance to step back and look at my career so far, so I’m just going to keep my head down and stay consistent," Mark said. "When I graduate, I’ll go back and look at those accolades. Just focusing on myself and trying to improve and we’ll enjoy the awards later.”
And perhaps one of those accolades will be a national championship.
“I joke with some of my teammates, I’ve never really won a club lacrosse championship or anything like that so this would be my first one but this is why we play the game," Mark said. "It’s why the little kids are coming to watch us. It’s why I started playing. Watching on TV, watching these national championships. It would be an absolute dream and like I said, it’s why we play.”