Gary Gait, Lacrosse, 1987-1990 - Syracuse University Athletics

Midfield

6-2, 197

Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, Canada

Gary Gait is considered to be one the greatest lacrosse players ever. He was a member of three straight national championship teams (1988, 1989, 1990). He was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame with his brother, Paul, in 2005. Gait was selected to the NCAA 25^th Anniversary Lacrosse Team and named to the All-20th Century team by Lacrosse Magazine.

Gait holds many SU and NCAA records including most goals in an NCAA Tournament game (9), most points in an NCAA Tournament game (12), most goals in the NCAA Tournament (15), most points in the NCAA Tournament (23), most career goals in the NCAA Tournament (50) and most single season goals (70). He also holds the SU record for the most career points in the NCAA Tournament (67).

Gait is ranked first on SU’s career goals list (192) and is tied for first on the single game goal list (9). He is ranked 23^rd on SU’s career assist list (61), tied for second on SU’s single game points list (12), ranked sixth on SU’s single season points list (87), and ranked eighth on SU’s career points list with 253.

Career: Played for Canada in the IFL World Championship in 1990, ’94, ’98 and 2006… Earned a spot on the All-World team in 1990, ’94 and ’98…Played indoor lacrosse in the NLL from 1991-2005…Named NLL MVP six times and won the NLL Sportsmanship Award twice…Jersey number (22) retired in 2005, a Denver NLL first…Played in the USCLA for more than 10 years, winning the MVP award four times and its championship twice…Retired in 2005 as the NLL’s all-time leader in goals (596) and points (1,091)…League’s best playoff scorer with 66 goals in 22 career postseason games.

Senior Year (1990): Selected as a first-team All-American…Won the Lt. Raymond Enners Award (Outstanding Player-Division I)…W.H. Brine Award winner (Outstanding Player-Division I Championship Game)… Played for the North in the North/South Collegiate All-Star game…Finished first on the team in goals (46) and points (72) and tied for second in assists (26).

Junior Year (1989): Selected as a first-team All-American…Won the Lt. Donald C. McLaughlin, Jr. Award (Outstanding Midfielder-Division I)…Finished seventh nationally with 51 goals, led the team in groundballs with 103, and tied for third on with 65 points…Joined Tom Korrie as the only SU player to score more than 50 goals in a season twice.

Sophomore Year (1988): Selected as a first team All-American…Won the Lt. Raymond Enners Award (Outstanding Player-Division I)…Won the Lt. Donald C. McLaughlin, Jr. Award (Outstanding Midfielder-Division I)…Led the nation with 87 points; also led the team in goals, points and groundballs…His shot stuff vs. Penn in the NCAA quarterfinals was considered a lacrosse first.

Freshman Year (1987): Received honorable mention as an All-American...Finished second on team in goals (25), fifth in points (29) and led the team with five games of three of more goals…Selected to the NCAA All-Tournament team after scoring 11 goals and an assist in two games…Tied for 19^th on SU’s list of Most Points by First-Year Players (29).

Personal: Born April 5, 1967…All-Providence in basketball and rugby at Claremont High…Served as an assistant coach at the University of Maryland women’s lacrosse teams and won seven consecutive NCAA championships (1994-2002)…Coached the Baltimore Bayhawks in Major League Lacrosse (MLL) from 2001-2005; led the team to four consecutive playoff appearances, three division titles and the 2005 and 2005 championships…Assumed the head coaching duties of the NLL’s Colorado Mammoth in 2006…Lives in Denver with his wife, Nicole, and their two children…President of NDP Lacrosse, a national lacrosse development and education program.

Year	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	GB
1987	N/A	25	4	29	N/A
1988	N/A	70	17	87	85
1989	N/A	51	14	65	103
1990	N/A	46	26	72	84
Totals	N/A	192	61	253	272