Men’s lacrosse attacker next Spider to join the NLL

University of Richmond men’s lacrosse player Dalton Young was selected by the Philadelphia Wings in the third round of the National Lacrosse League Draft Sept. 16.

“The pick is in!” the Spider men’s lacrosse team posted on its Instagram account. “Dalton Young is headed to the Philadelphia Wings.”

Young, a graduate student attacker for the Spiders, will play his fifth and final season with the men’s lacrosse team this spring and then join the Wings in the summer of 2024. He was the 45th pick overall in the event and drafted in the third round. 

“I mean, it was pretty awesome,” Young said. “Only having played box [lacrosse] for the past two summers, it was definitely a different experience. Guys like Jake Saunders and Ryan Lanchbury in the past really influenced me to get into the game, and Coach Hodge back at home just really pushed me into trying it out and I fell in love with it.”

Saunders, ‘23, and Lanchbury, ‘22, currently play in the NLL for the Las Vegas Desert Dogs and the Georgia Swarm, respectively. The NLL is a box lacrosse league where games are played indoors. Both from Canada, Saunders and Lanchbury grew up playing box lacrosse, so Young said he would try to learn from them.

“And those are two of my best friends at school, and I’m looking forward to seeing them a lot more in the upcoming season,” Young said.

UR men’s lacrosse Head Coach Dan Chemotti said Young is a versatile player, and it was a special moment seeing him get drafted.

“What I told the GM of the Philly Wings when [Young] was going through the process was he is just built differently,” Chemotti said. “And you can talk about the physical differences, the mental differences. He’s the consummate winner. He’s an incredible teammate. He’s the hardest worker in the weight room.”

Chemotti was attending the wedding of former UR goalie and 2019 assistant coach Benny Pugh, ‘17, when he found out the news of Young’s selection from the Wings’ General Manager. Chemotti said it was cool how it all came together, with Pugh being the program’s first-ever draftee and Young being the most recent.

In four seasons and 49 games for UR, Young has scored 110 goals, notched 76 assists and picked up 68 ground balls. He was named the Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year for the 2023 season and helped the Spiders win their first-ever conference championship in the A-10 while also advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in program history. 

“I’ve never seen the kid quit,” Chemotti said. “We tried to hold [Young] out of a couple practices a year ago ‘cause he was kind of dealing with an ailment, and he basically yelled at me and was like, ‘I’m not sitting out of practice, I need to practice.’ And this is a kid who, he doesn’t need to prove anything to anybody and he was just like, ‘I want the reps, I need the reps, I can’t keep sitting out on practice. I’m practicing.’” 

With the 2024 campaign on the horizon, Young said official practices started this week. The team practiced before then to prepare for the annual alumni game the program hosts which took place this past weekend. 

Young said he’s trying to enjoy every second of his final season with the Spiders. 

“There’s always more to learn every year, It’s never the same,” Young said. “ …Last year with our senior class, it was primarily our job to be leaders, but now with this year’s senior class, me and the other couple fifth years, we kind of want to take a step back and let those guys lead and find other ways to do our role, in a way.”

The men’s lacrosse team’s 2024 schedule has yet to be released, but regular season games will commence this coming February where the Spiders will look to defend their A-10 title and make a third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. 

Contact sports editor Jimmy James at jimmy.james@richmond.edu.