LOUDONVILLE – Ballston Spa native Zac Schuette wanted to show he could compete in Division I.
After a knee injury last September put a temporary crimp in his plans, Schuette made his homecoming worthwhile for the Siena men’s lacrosse program.
Transferring from Divsiion III Springfield, Schuette has 21 goals and 16 assists in his graduate season for the fourth-seeded Saints (8-6), who take on top seed Manhattan at 7 p.m. Thursday in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal in Riverdale.
“I think I wanted to prove myself at the D1 level,” Schuette said. “I was open to going any division, but once I decided on Siena, I was like, I really want to come in here and prove myself. Whether I play or I’m on the scout team every single day, I want to show them that I deserve to be here and that D3, some of those schools there, they’ve got great talent. I wanted to kind of show out for D3 as best as I could.”
Schuette spent four seasons at Springfield, where he had 52 goals and 39 assists as a senior. He entered the NCAA transfer portal for the extra year of eligibility allowed by the NCAA because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“He’s such a winner,” Springfield head coach Keith Bugbee said. “He gives such great effort, I knew they would absolutely love him there. He’s really smart and he really has a great motor. He’s such a great competitor, I knew they’d find a home for him somewhere.”
As a youth, Schuette played in a club program run by Gleason and University at Albany head coach Scott Marr. Schuette went on to lead Ballston Spa to a Section II Class B title.
Gleason said he didn’t follow Schuette’s college career closely but began noticing his impressive statistics near the end of his senior year at Springfield. He reached out to Schuette, who visited campus with his father..
“I didn’t know what we were going…
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