STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Renz Conlon scored his first Division I collegiate lacrosse goal on Tuesday night in Stony Brook's victory over Long Island rival Hofstra.
The first thing he did afterward was look up into the stands to find his mother, Melissa.
Conlon, a midyear transfer faceoff specialist who previously played at Division II Franklin Pierce, was raised by his single mother. She is the one who introduced him to playing the sport of lacrosse.
"When I ran off the field, I looked up at my mom in the stands," Renz said. "And seeing my face on the big screen, I was like, 'Look, mom, I did it.' It was absolutely a dream come true."
Conlon's family is his motivating factor behind everything he does, on and off the lacrosse field. So scoring that goal was something special for the 5-foot-8, 195-pound sophomore from nearby Rocky Point.
"Being raised by a single mom, she's given me everything and every opportunity," Conlon said. "She is the one that got me into lacrosse and said it would be a good sport. She provided me with every opportunity I could have ever asked for, so I want to do it for her.
"It is awesome to have my mom right down the road. I have a younger sister, so it was kind of difficult for them to be going back and forth to Franklin Pierce in New Hampshire. It is really nice to now be right down the road from them. It is an awesome opportunity."
Conlon's decision to transfer to be closer to home was a no-brainer, and was made easy by the Seawolves' coaches.
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Tommy Kelly has been a longtime mentor of mine," Renz said about Stony Brook's volunteer assistant coach. "When I put my name in the transfer portal, he automatically called me and said, 'Hey, I'd love to have you play under me.' I was ecstatic and jumped right at the opportunity.
"Then coach [Anthony] Gilardi actually asked me over the phone where I was looking in the transfer process. I told him that I'm looking at number 35 on his roster, and he said, 'It's yours.'"
Conlon also wanted to come home for the outstanding academic reputation that Stony Brook has achieved.
"Academics was one of the things I really wanted to focus on," Conlon said. "I wanted to do something in the marine science field, and I also wanted to play at the Division I level. It was a personal passion of mine. Stony Brook was the perfect fit."
Conlon is a perfect fit for the Seawolves, who are off to a 3-1 start to the Gilardi era.
Conlon has made an impact during the first four games of the season. In addition to his goal 10 seconds into the fourth quarter that helped secure the victory against Hofstra, he has taken the majority of faceoffs in 2020 and won more than 50 percent.
"It is something that I have worked hard on. I want to be an impact player on the field," Conlon said. "There really is no ceiling to what I want to achieve. I just want to help the team as much as possible and control possession and the ball."
Conlon once again will be kneeling at the X on Saturday when Stony Brook faces off at Rutgers at noon at SHI Stadium.
