Staten Island, NY- Wagner men's lacrosse goalkeeper Danny Brady accomplished a feat that not many get to experience.
 
It all started when Brady's brother sent him an Instagram post. It was a flyer for a supplemental tryout for the U21 Ireland National Team in New York. He didn't hesitate and pulled up to the tryout in May. Despite Brady growing up in New Jersey, his grandparents being from Ireland allowed him the opportunity to be eligible for the national team.

Most of the team was set in stone and was selected prior to the pandemic. Luckily, a couple of the players grew out of the age gap and Brady made the roster as an alternate.
 

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During the tryout, one of the coaches knew about Brady's junior season which included leading the Northeast Conference (NEC) in save percentage (.591) and saves per game (14.08). He also earned NEC Defensive Player of the Week honors twice and racked up five NEC Prime Performer accolades. Brady also was named to the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Team of the Week in March.
 
Because of his stellar season on Grymes Hill and how the tryout went, the coaches wanted him to come out to the North American tryout for the men's national team.
 
"I was super excited for the U21 team tryout," Brady said. "And then when I found out I could be playing in the world games if I make the team this upcoming summer in California, I quickly turned my attention to that and trained."
 
In June, Brady went to Rutgers for that North American-based tryout. He completed that and a few days later got an email from one of the coaches that they wanted him to come out to Ireland and play in their men's national team training camp. It was a no-brainer for the East Windsor, NJ native.
 
He flew to Dublin and stayed on campus at the University of Limerick, one of the biggest universities in Ireland. During the trip, there was time for Brady to meet family he had either not met or hadn't seen since he was too young to remember. The week in Dublin served as the perfect mix of two things Brady loves the most: lacrosse and family.
 
"It was like a flashback to playing summer ball in high school with how much lacrosse was played in a week," Brady said. "It was fun, I got to play in Ireland. It was probably one of the best experiences I've ever had in my life."
 
The trip included a short two-day training camp before Brady competed in a world festival the rest of the week. The training camp group was then split into two teams and Brady played three games a day for five days. He was abroad for eight days.
 
"It was definitely something I aspired to do," Brady said. "Obviously, growing up, no matter what you do you want to play at the next level. My coaches at Wagner put me into the position to make me the best goalie possible and luckily other people saw that and were able to reach out and make all these things possible."
 
Brady has received unparalleled support from all over the Wagner community. Over the summer, his messages were flooded and when he returned to campus this fall, everyone knew about his trip to Ireland. Brady said the interest was so high that back home, teammates, and family were asking him if there was any way they could watch training camp or the games, regardless of local time in Dublin being five hours ahead.
 
"From coaches to teammates, the support, advice, and help have been great," Brady said. "I had a bunch of questions, and they were always willing to help. Same thing with my teammates. I got so many texts saying good luck."
 
If Brady makes the national team, he heads to a week-and-a-half-long training camp before the World Championships next June, after his senior year is complete on Grymes Hill.

"I was very excited for Danny when he told me about the opportunity to compete nationally," Wagner men's lacrosse head coach Bill McCutcheon said. "We spoke a few times early in the summer about the process and the opportunity to play at a very high level. I'm confident he will make a push to being rostered on the Irish national team."
 
Brady has a lot of lacrosse ahead of him. He currently sits fifth all-time on the Wagner saves list with 375 and was a major part of a defense that was tied for least goals allowed in the country last season and tied for 10th nationally in goals against average. One thing is for certain with Wagner's goalkeeper.

"The support was unreal," he said. "None of this would be possible without my teammates and coaches. They push me to be the best version of myself every day. My family does it as well. I'm so grounded by people who care about each other. None of it would be possible without any of them."