Butler’s Davis plays in four travel lacrosse tourneys in just over a week
Lacrosse doesn’t seem to stop for Ayden Davis.
After a spring in which he poured in 65 goals and dished out 31 assists as a sophomore for Butler, he’s continued playing for a pair of club teams — Central Westmoreland Elite (CWE), which is operated out of Latrobe, and the Annapolis Hawks — year-round.
Notably, he participated in four tournaments over an eight-day span earlier this month. His teams won three of those brackets as he played in front of scores of college coaches.
“It was a crazy week and a half,” Davis said. “It was a lot of games played.”
In total, he played in 17 contests, and the gauntlet was a good chance for him to showcase his propensity for the highlight reel-type of play.
One second, he can be cradling the ball, blocked off by a group of defenders. The next, as if by teleportation, he’ll be wheeling down the sideline or up the middle, threatening to charge all the way to the front of the opposition’s net.
Whether it be by spin moves, jab steps, or behind-the-back shots, he’s almost always sure to entertain.
“It’s a lot of work in the backyard practicing my moves,” Davis said. “I get a lot of my moves from watching college players and a lot of college games on YouTube.”
The player that Davis tries the most to resemble is Myles Jones, a midfielder with Redwoods Lacrosse Club of the Premier Lacrosse League. He also looks up to Paul Rabil, one of the most widely known lacrosse players and a co-founder of that same professional league.
“The first thing you notice is how quick and twitchy and fast he is,” said Hawks coach Shaun Crow about Davis. “He’s just an unbelievable athlete. He’s got the right mindset, he’s got the right competitive nature.
“Everything that you’re looking for in a top-level athlete, he’s got it.”
Davis joined the Annapolis-based crew last fall. Other than him and a few others from the Pittsburgh area and North Carolina, the team is made up mostly of Maryland natives.
Davis’ skill set was too much to ignore. Crow found himself at a near loss for words in describing Davis’ first step in particular.
“It’s funny,” Crow said, finding a way to explain it. “He makes his first move and almost — I’d say 50/50 — the defender has no idea where he’s going. He’s just that deceptive.”
Starting on July 9, Davis played in the FLG in 3D tournament in Boyds, Md. with CWE, scoring eight goals and adding five assists. Right after, he hopped over to the Inside Lacrosse Invitational in Columbia, Md., putting together an impressive showing for the Hawks.
He then went back to Boyds to play with CWE again, this time in the Pinnacle Lacrosse Tournament. His team fell into the loser’s bracket and the Hawks, playing in the National Lacrosse Federation National Championships, gave him a call. The Davises packed up and left for Lehigh University before the sun rose the next morning.
That day, at a tournament he wasn’t supposed to initially attend, Davis helped the Hawks win in the semifinals and then in the title game, where they beat the Long Island Express, 6-3, on ESPN+. He netted a pair of markers in that contest.
The experience wasn’t without wear and tear. Davis tweaked his back in the second tourney and had to take care of his body by hydrating, stretching, and making use of a muscle gun. All in the name of attracting attention from some of the schools he hopes to get to suit up for.
“It was a great opportunity,” Davis said of being able to play in front of coaches from Navy, Jacksonville, Towson, North Carolina, and Maryland. “It gives them a perspective of how good I am.”
