Double trouble: Shields brothers enjoying outstanding careers at UMO

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on April 2, 2014 1:48 PM

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aetzler@newsargus.com

When Dan and Matt Shields were growing up in Perth, Australia, people used to joke they would one day travel to America to play college lacrosse.

No one took that joke very seriously.

"It just doesn't really happen," Matt said. "I think in Australia there is like six people who have ever gone on (to America) to play lacrosse in college."

Years later that harmless joke is a reality.Matt and Dan are standout attackmen on the University of Mount Olive lacrosse team, and the top-scoring duo in the country among NCAA Division II schools. As of Monday, Matt shares the top spot with Conor Whipple of Tampa (Fla.) with 56 points apiece.

Dan, a senior, shares fifth place with 49 points.

They've helped lead UMO, a second-year program, to a 9-2 record this season. The Trojans have earned votes in the last two United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) top 15 polls.

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Lacrosse isn't a big sport in Australia.

Club teams practice twice a week and play games on Saturdays. On occasion, some teams failed to have enough players.

Though Matt and Dan excelled at the sport, the lack of competition left questions about how well they could compete at higher levels. That uncertainty made their college dreams seem like distant goals.

Until 2008.

Dan enrolled in a student exchange program during his junior year at Mercer Island High School in Washington state. He went through an tough period.

"It was pretty tough leaving where all my friends and family were," Dan said. "Not knowing anybody, not having any friends and just jumping into 11th grade is pretty difficult."

Dan didn't need much of an adjustment period on the field, though. He earned second-team all-state honors.

The brothers' father was offered a job on Mercer Island after Dan's junior season. Dan told his parents he wanted to finish his senior year in the states, and after some discussion the family packed up and moved.

The next year, Matt and Dan played on the same field for the first time. Dan won the Washington state player-of-the-year award and earned All-American honors in 2009.

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While Matt continued his high school career and led Mercer Island to a state title, Dan excelled in junior college. He guided Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, New York, to the NJCAA Division III national championship in his only year there.

He transferred to St. Andrews University the next season.

Matt hoped to follow in his brother's footsteps.

"I almost didn't go to play in college," he said. "In my senior year I was on the fence about whether I wanted to go play in college, and I didn't really get recruited."

St. Andrews was the only school to recruit Matt, which gave him the chance to play beside his brother again. But neither got to put on a uniform at St. Andrews, which dropped from NCAA Division II to NAIA.

About the same time, Mount Olive started its lacrosse program and hired St. Andrews coach Michael Lawson. The brothers and several teammates followed Lawson, but another change was about to happen.

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Lawson resigned at UMO for family reasons.

Dan and Matt's careers were in flux again.

When Mount Olive began its new search for a head coach, Dan sat in on the interviews. Former Catawba coach Michael Murphy caught his attention because of his preparation, knowledge and statistics about every player in the program.

Murphy was hired.

Matt and Dan finally had a school, a team, coach -- and each other.

UMO finished 7-7 during its inaugural season.

"Although we're a second-year team, it doesn't feel like it because we have so many experienced players," Dan said. "We're a pretty old team for being a second-year program. A lot of us had played together for a year already before we got here, so we had built up some chemistry."

But the Trojans had more.

Dan knew Matt had not played a collegiate game. Coaches had no way of scouting his younger brother."I knew what he could do," Dan said. "Nobody else did. So I knew I had that secret card in my pocket.""It's mostly because we're together," Matt added. "We've played together we know each other's habits. I can throw him the ball and not be looking and just know he's going to catch it."

Matt finished the year with 29 goals, just two behind Dan for the team lead. His success surprised the competition, but maybe not as much as it surprised himself.

"I never, ever thought I would do as well as I did," Matt said. "I just fit in the role (Murphy) put me in, and did my job and put the ball in the net."

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These days Matt and Dan aren't surprising anyone. Teams scout the brothers, but haven't stopped them. They are the Conference Carolinas' top scorers with the third-ranked scorer being 12 points behind.

In their biggest test of the year against No. 3-ranked Limestone last Sunday, the brothers added five points to their respective season totals. Matt scored a hat trick (three goals) and Dan assisted two of Matt's goals in the 14-6 loss.

Mount Olive attempts to avoid its first losing streak of the season when it takes on No. 7-ranked Pfeiffer (8-1) in another road conference game today.Tucker Hammock, the conference's third-leading scorer, leads the Falcons' dangerous attack with 27 goals and 10 assists.

Murphy operates under the philosophy that the next game is the biggest one. Complete focus will be given to Pfeiffer, as it always is, and a win would almost certainly cement the Trojans in the USILA top 15.

Matt, Dan and the rest of the team will have to conjure up some of that chemistry they rely on so heavily if they want to take their program to the next level.

"If we don't play as a team, we don't win," Murphy said.