Football player who loves lacrosse, Shaban helps Barlow succeed
REDDING — There’s a push and pull in a lot of coach-player relationships, and Joel Barlow boys lacrosse coach John Distler laughed when he talked about his with Danny Shaban.
Shaban calls himself primarily a football player who loves lacrosse. Distler watches Shaban play lacrosse like a football player, but sees the lacrosse player he can be.
“It’s a little contention thing I have with Danny, because Danny doesn’t want to give into me,” Distler said. “I want to make him into a lacrosse player, and he fights me all the way. He’s so darn athletic, it’s incredible.”
Distler said the junior midfielder played his best lacrosse of the season on Thursday in the Falcons’ 14-2 win over Newtown in the SWC quarterfinal.
“He’s always pushing me to get better,” Shaban said.
“He’s trying to push me to put the stick in my off hand, work on shooting, work on passing, work on my lacrosse game a little more, so when we’re in situations like these, big games like these, we know we can execute.”
Shaban was a secondteam all-state midfielder in Class M last spring. In the fall, he filled stat lines on both sides of the football, running for over 1,300 yards and 24 touchdowns, notching eight sacks and earning a spot on the New Haven Register All-State third team.
When Barlow and Newtown met in the regular season on May 2, Shaban and attackman Griffin Ellis were out. The Falcons won 8-6.
On Thursday, Shaban helped Barlow dominate on faceoffs in the first quarter and score the first eight goals in just over nine min
utes. Shaban himself scored goals 3-7, a five-goal run in just about five minutes. He added one more goal in the fourth quarter as the Falcons improved to 12-5.
“He did a really nice job,” Distler said. “He was hard to cover. They had no one that could cover him. He took advantage of it.”
Distler wanted to make clear that Shaban works hard, and he wouldn’t want to imply otherwise.
“But Danny gets by with his athleticism, so he doesn’t work on his skills that he really needs to become the best lacrosse player he can be,” Distler said, “which is amazing when he puts it all together.”
Shaban said he has made progress with his shot; it’s still “shaky,” he said, but better than last season.
He wants to play Division I college football, exploring all his options.
“Hopefully they’ll give me a look; hopefully some lacrosse schools are giving me a look,” Shaban said. “I’m just looking to have fun in college and make the most out of my experience.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Barlow junior midfielder Danny Shaban scored six goals.
MOVING ON
Second-seeded Barlow will host third-seeded New Milford on Tuesday night at 7 in the semifinals. The Falcons won the regularseason meeting 10-6 at home on April 14.
What stands out about the Falcons to Shaban, he said, “is our toughness, because on both sides of the ball, defense and offense, we are, I think, impeccable, one of the best in the state. I think it’s our toughness and grit that gets us through these games.”
Tyler Ramirez scored five goals for the Falcons.
NO EXCUSES
Thus ended a tough year for Newtown (5-12), its first without a CIAC tournament berth since 2007.
The Nighthawks battled injuries and illness throughout the season.
“It’s not an excuse,” Newtown coach Scott Bulkley said.
All that created some inexperience, and the team looked young in spots.
“Some guys, yeah, but yeah, for the most part, everybody played hard,” Bulkley said. “You get enough reps, you stop being young.”
QUOTABLE
“Danny and Zach (Herman) are football players converted into lacrosse players. They both tend to play a little more footballstyle lacrosse in the past. Today, Danny played lacrosse. He did a really nice job.” —Barlow coach John Distler