(Editor’s Note: The PV Student Publication will be releasing feature stories on senior athletes at Pascack Valley who will be continuing their athletic careers in college. A signing ceremony for these athletes was scheduled to take place in the fall; however, it was pushed back due to COVID-19 concerns and other conflicts. Five athletes took part in the ceremony held on April 23, while there will be another ceremony in May for the remaining college-bound athletes.)

For Daniel Haag, the idea of playing lacrosse in college wasn’t something he anticipated in his earlier high school years. Basketball was the sport that he thought would be his main focus throughout his time at Pascack Valley.

“Coming into high school, I actually thought basketball was going to be my main sport, but then I ended up switching paths, and [in my] sophomore year I really enjoyed lacrosse,” Haag said. “I picked up club [lacrosse], and got into training and coaches started reaching out.”

PV coach Matthew Will recognized Haag’s potential to play college lacrosse at a similar time in Haag’s career as well.

“Towards the end of his sophomore year he started getting a lot more varsity face off reps, and you kind of had a feeling that if he put in the work that was required of him he could improve to the point where he was able to play in college,” Will said.

Currently a senior, Haag will continue his athletic and academic career at SUNY (State University of New York) Cortland. His commitment process began during his time playing club lacrosse, where a coach from Cortland saw Haag play and reached out to him.

“One of the [Cortland] coaches saw me play and they emailed me. I went up there for a visit and loved it there,” Haag said. “After a couple of communications back and forth, they gave me an offer. Right away, I accepted and decided to go play there.”

Haag mentioned that Cortland’s reputation was something that interested him in attending the school and playing for its lacrosse team, and after getting the chance to see the team play, he knew Cortland was the school for him.

Haag is not the first member of his family to take lacrosse to the next level, as his brother Matt Haag, a 2018 PV graduate, plays lacrosse at Washington College in Maryland. According to the Cortland commit, this had an impact on his own decision to play in college.

“My brother plays college lacrosse, and he has a lot of fun, and that was a big role in why I decided to play college lacrosse,” Haag said.

Will said the commitment process is a bit different for players at the face-off position, the position that Haag plays for Valley.

“Lacrosse is unique in that there are a couple of positions that always commit early, and face off is one of them,” Will said. “It happens quickly; goalie and face off are probably the two [positions] that a lot of college programs only take one per class, so when you have an offer that you like and a school that you like, you jump on it pretty quickly, which is what [Haag] did.”

Will believes that Haag’s confidence will serve as a valuable quality during his collegiate career.

“He’s fearless,” Will said. “And I think you need that because that jump from high school to college is huge, and he has no problem going after it and working hard.”

Will further complimented Haag’s on-field play, describing him as a “tremendous asset” for the PV lacrosse team.

“Whenever you have a face off man who wins at the rate that [Haag] wins at, it’s a huge boom to the whole team because you get more possessions, you’re on defense less [often], and more possessions means you score more goals,” Will said.

In addition to his skill on the field, Haag’s leadership abilities are also valued by his teammates and coaches.

“Over the last year he’s become a tremendous leader for us,” Will said. “He was voted one of our captains for this year, so not only on the field but [also] off the field he’s been tremendous for the program.”

Although the COVID-19 pandemic had cancelled Haag’s PV Lacrosse junior year, he said it didn’t have much of an impact on his commitment process, as he believes he was “lucky” to have committed in December 2019, before he even stepped on the field for his junior season.

“I was already committed when [COVID-19] was happening, but just as far as the season went it was very upsetting,” Haag said. “It was tough losing that season, I know [for] a lot of my friends it was tough on them.”

Despite only having a small portion of practice his junior season before it was cancelled due to the pandemic, Will noticed drastic improvements in Haag’s game.

“Even though we only had a week of practice before we shut down, I could tell that all of that hard work paid off,” Will said.

In regards to this lacrosse season, Will said that Haag has been “a steady force” throughout the duration of the season, consistently making a positive impact on the team.

“[Haag] says what needs to be said [and] he leads by example,” Will said.

And when Haag isn’t on the field, his absence is felt.

“What we’ve noticed is that he’s gotten a little bit banged up at times, and when he leaves the game you can tell [there is] a difference in the team,” Will said.

Haag says that the team is taking the season one step at a time while also focusing on a bigger goal at hand: a league championship.

“We’re looking for a league championship, and really just making sure we take one week at a time, each game at a time, make sure we get after it and make sure we’re doing our best in every opportunity,” Haag said.

As for Haag’s college career, Will believes he will fit in just fine at Cortland.

“I think he’ll see what’s expected of him at the next level, and he’s going to be able to meet those expectations and not have any worries or fear about what he’s going to be required to do,” Will said.