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In the summer Mike O’Brien is a defenseman for the Kitchener-Waterloo Braves in the Ontario Junior A Lacrosse League, but during the school year he’ll be back in the Division 1 Hobart Statesmen line-up. Sounds unsurprising, right? Except that O’Brien isn’t one of the many Canadians in the NCAA ranks—he’s an American infiltrating Ontario. Here he talks differences between the games, playing without the long pole, and what brand of lacrosse he honestly likes better.

Now, you grew up playing the field game at the Gunnery in Connecticut, and now your playing for Hobart College, an NCAA Div. I team in upstate New York – how did you get interested in the box game and what brought you to Canada to play?
That all starts with Evan Kirk. He is a goalie of ours at Hobart with me and we’ve played together there for a year now. He mentioned it to me at practice one day. I grew up playing hockey and I thought it would be a great opportunity and would improve my footwork and whatnot. I just thought it would be a great opportunity for me.

Speaking of Evan Kirk, he’s been getting a lot of attention lately as one of the best goalies in Ontario even though he’s not on a top team. Do you agree that he’s possibly top three in Ontario?
Oh absolutely. I think especially having him in back is a huge confidence booster. Cause with him you know if anything goes wrong defensively the offense is probably still not going to score. He has been playing very solidly between the pipes.

Your team has secured some quality wins and are showing a lot of promise, but you guys are still in the middle of the pack as of right now. How do you think the rest of the season is going to go?
We have a huge game tomorrow against Toronto and then we close out the season with St. Catharines. They’re two crucial games and we need all the points we can get. We had a big win against Mississauga tonight which is a big win as well. The offense is playing great and the defense is looking very strong. Also, our last game showed off Evans ability — a shutout in Junior A is unheard of.

As we all know, the box game is very different from the field game. How have your field skills transferred to the box game? What is the most challenging part of adapting to the box game?
I think more than just utilizing my footwork and playing man-to-man defense, I think just being used to handling a long pole makes my stick a lot more active on-ball. As a result of my field experience, I throw a lot of stick checks and am pretty active with my stick.

In the field game you are a great defender. Has losing that extra 3 feet affected your game?
It’s been great as far as my footwork is concerned. You don’t have that three feet for recovery time. If you do get beat in the field game you have 3 feet of insurance to land a last minute check. With the short stick that’s not really a possibility, so you have to play a lot sounder defensively.

Many say that one of the most significant differences between box and field play is the level of physicality. The box game is known for being a much ‘tougher’ game, in both the style of play and the general attitudes of the players. Have you found this to be true?
Oh, absolutely. That is the part I missed about hockey that I really wanted to get back to this summer. I’d definitely agree with you there.

One of the most abrupt differences between the lacrosse you grew up playing and the game in Canada has to be the prevalence of fighting. Now, I know you played hockey in high school and may have gotten into a melee or two, but what was your first lacrosse fight like?
Well, I had a little scrap before tonight. But I had a fight tonight and it went pretty well. It was great. It definitely gets the adrenaline going and gets you into it. We went buckets off and got at it. He actually got tripped up and fell so it didn’t last very long. But it worked out well for me.

Do you think that your experience playing box lacrosse is going to transfer over to your collegiate field play? How so?
It’s definitely going to give me more confidence on defense. I think it will make me rely on my stick less at Hobart and play more body. I think I have the habit of chasing the stick a little too much in the field game. I think it will help me to play more solid man to man defense and not be reliant on the long pole and fishing for the stick.

What is it like being an American in a mostly Canadian league?
Well, I don’t think a lot of the opponents know I am American. But the players on the team have welcomed me. It’s nice to know they are on my side. I love the team and I love the guys and it’s been a great experience so far. I do get the occasional American joke, but I guess that all comes with the territory.

As a field player, you’ve already garnered quite a few accolades, including being named a high school All-American, has it been humbling to learn the game by playing in a league mostly filled with guys who have played box their entire lives? How do you think you have fared and do you get any grief from the Canucks?
Well my first practice was pretty wild, because I didn’t really know what’s going on. I think I’ve adjusted pretty well. Is it intimidating? Well, no, cause I think defense is pretty simple no matter what way you look at it. If I was playing offense, with all of the movement and picks, I think it could get pretty intimidating. Defense is pretty simple and that’s how I like to keep it. I think I have been playing pretty well.

I am sure that your primary allegiance is towards your collegiate team, but honestly which type of play do you enjoy more?
That’s a tough question. If my coach reads this he is probably going to hate me. But honestly I have been enjoying box a ton. I love how much more physical you can be, on and off ball, which just isn’t the same in field lacrosse. The atmosphere is so much more intense and I love that part of it. In the locker room and in the game and whatnot — it’s just a great atmosphere to play in. I also love the best of seven games series playoffs. It doesn’t get much better than that.

You have experience with both high level field and box lacrosse now. Do you have any advice for field players looking to get into the box game like you did?
The general manager, Mr. Corey Hallman, gave me a great opportunity. A lot of Division 1 field teams have their fair share of Canadian box players. I’d say, make friends with those guys and try to come up for the summer. It’s a great experience and I really hope more guys do it in the future.

How about advice for box players who are interested in moving their talent over onto grass?
I guess maybe work on the offhand obviously. But other than that… you can’t really say much about shooting or passing because the passing and shooting in the box game is far superior, especially in tight spaces. Compared to box, you have so much more room to work with in the field game, so you would have to be much better at moving your feet. That is probably the most important difference box guys would need to work on.

Anything you’d like to say to fans?
Haha. My fans? Nah I don’t think so. But I would like to thank the Kirk family for their generosity and my own family for their continued support.

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