STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Stony Brook men's lacrosse senior Devin O'Leary never let his role as a as a defender prevent him from contributing on the attack. Instead, he has used his long pole to become the Seawolves' version of a "swiss-army knife" player. 
 
O'Leary has already found his way to the back of the net once this season — scoring in the team's season-opening 20-8 victory against Sacred Heart. He also contributed an assist during the "Battle of Long Island" rivalry game against Hofstra last weekend. 
 
Defensively, the senior is fifth on the team with seven ground balls.

Stony Brook (2-1) returns to action Saturday with its America East opener at UMBC.
 
"I like to think of myself as the 'swiss-army knife' of the team," O'Leary said. "Everyone works on their sticks so much and everybody can be utilized in any way. I like being in that position, playing just about everywhere on the field, to push the breakout."
 
O'Leary's knack for beating his opponents to the ball has been a big factor in finding two-way success. That has been something evident since the Queensbury, N.Y-native began playing lacrosse in the seventh grade, as an attackman.
 
O'Leary's potential and talent earned him a spot on the Queensbury High School lacrosse team's roster as a freshman, albeit on the bench. That did not stop O'Leary from improving on all aspects of the game to be an asset to the team anywhere on the field.
 
"It was a lot of hard work going to the gym and working out," O'Leary said. "I remember some nights where it would just be me on the field with my stick and 10 bright orange balls shooting at a net." 
 
It proved useful during his sophomore season, after the team's two starting defensemen went down with injuries. O'Leary stepped up in their place despite having limited defensive experience and thrived in the role. 
 
Utilizing his 6-foot-5 frame and nearly six-foot-long stick, O'Leary retained the starting defenseman role and made the Foothills Council first team his junior season.
 
O'Leary then followed his dream of playing D-I lacrosse and joined Stony Brook.  
 
Now a starter at long stick midfielder for the Seawolves, O'Leary credited carrying over his two-way success in college to several Stony Brook alumni, including long-stick midfielders Justin Pugal and Ryland Rees.
 
"It was a blessing to have those guys to look up to and work on my game," O'Leary said. "Ryland and I would shoot all the time. It is cool that I adopted some of their playing styles as I grew up in the program. I can't thank them enough." 

Their leadership pushed O'Leary to work with younger players and help improve their two-way games, including junior long-stick midfielder David Miele-Estrella and sophomore midfielder Christian Lowd. Miele-Estrella has one goal and one assist, while Lowd leads the conference with 12 ground balls this season. 
 
"You don't have to be a captain to be a leader," O'Leary said. "Coach Gilardi always preaches to do the right thing, not the easy thing. A big part of being an upperclassmen is taking responsibility, along with the rest of the senior class, for the younger guy."