Some kids grow up playing different sports at the same time before settling on one they love the most. Others stick to only one sport and practice it as much as they can. However, some find their sport through a completely different way – Iona College senior Shannon McCaffrey’s love for lacrosse happened by mistake.

McCaffrey’s parents asked her if she’d like to go play lacrosse one day, but McCaffrey misheard the question.

“I thought they meant the Stations of the Cross, like for church,” McCaffrey said. “My parents brought me to Sports Authority and I bought my first lacrosse stick.”

McCaffrey believes that her misunderstanding was one of the most significant moments in her life. The funny situation led to finding her love of the sport, which is a huge blessing in her eyes.

The Iona College goalkeeper has recently set the record for most saves in the program’s history, 453. McCaffrey gains her inspiration from her fellow goalkeepers to keep her going. Their work ethic and determination pushes her to strive for greatness in her position.

McCaffrey wants to leave behind a legacy for the current lacrosse team now that she’s set the record for most saves. She hopes to build a solid foundation for the program to create a winning team out of their current squad.

To McCaffrey, letting the freshmen know what it’s like to both win and lose with the team is important to the foundation.

McCaffrey believes having the fire and ambition of wanting to win is important to being a stable program. She thinks the best way to do that is going out every day and giving 100 percent.

Moments in a player’s career stay with them for life, and McCaffrey’s favorite moment was a game last season against Marist. The Gaels were away and won 12-11 after trailing by five goals.

“It’s the best win I’ve ever had,” McCaffrey said. “I broke down. We pushed and pushed and we came up and we beat them on their own senior day.”

One last piece of advice McCaffrey offered for other student athletes was to put school before sports.

McCaffrey graduates from Iona this May and is going to graduate school for a master’s degree in Speech Pathology.