US LACROSSE MAGAZINE, FORMERLY LACROSSE MAGAZINE, IS THE LONGEST-RUNNING AND MOST WIDELY READ LACROSSE PUBLICATION IN THE WORLD. THE MAGAZINE DATES BACK TO 1978. “THE VAULT” IS A NEW SERIES IN WHICH WE WILL REVISIT PAST COVER SUBJECTS TO SEE WHERE THEY ARE NOW AND WHAT THAT MOMENT IN TIME MEANT TO THEM. DON’T GET THE MAG? JOIN US LACROSSE TODAY TO START YOUR SUBSCRIPTION.
Later this month, the Premier Lacrosse League will begin its Championship Series in Utah, with seven teams competing over two weeks at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman to determine the 2020 league champion. That upcoming migration of the sport to the Beehive State prompted us to look back at our Lacrosse Magazine cover from 15 years ago, featuring Utah’s Kyle Fiat.
A native of Salt Lake City, Fiat was one of Utah’s first lacrosse exports to find his way onto an NCAA varsity team. In April 2005, he was midway through his junior season at Towson University when he graced the cover of our magazine. He was featured in a story titled “Western Influence.”
“The ironic part of the story is that most of the article was about one of my teammates, Matt Mehrer, who was also from Utah, but the photo they used on the cover was me,” Fiat said. “There were just a handful of us from the West at that time. It’s changed a lot.”
The journey to Towson was not a direct route for Fiat, a two-sport athlete in high school. After graduating from Olympus High School, he initially stayed in-state, attending Utah State University as a wide receiver on the football team.
Unfortunately, a neck injury brought an early end to his collegiate gridiron career, but Fiat played two seasons on USU’s club lacrosse team, which competes as a member of the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). In 2004, he transferred to Towson and earned his spot on the team as a walk-on during fall ball.
“I made the move because I wanted more out of lacrosse,” Fiat said. “It was also a good fit for me because I was a physical education major, and I wanted to learn more about how to coach lacrosse. I was fortunate that Coach [Tony] Seaman really helped me build a foundation.”
On the field, Fiat discovered during that first fall season that his overall athleticism allowed him to be competitive with his more talented and experienced teammates. As a left-handed attackman, he initially made the squad as the fourth or fifth attacker. He improved enough by the spring to claim a spot on the starting unit.
“I think I mostly was filling a need for the team as a lefty,” Fiat said. “I was a pretty raw player, but I got a little more comfortable each day. I really just took advantage of the opportunity that was available.”
Fiat played in all 16 games for the Tigers in 2005, scoring 14 goals and helping Towson capture the CAA title. The Tigers lost a heartbreaker to Cornell in the NCAA tournament, with the Big Red scoring with 11 seconds remaining to claim a 12-11 victory.
In 2006, Fiat and his teammates found heartbreak once again, losing 13-12 to rival Delaware in the CAA’s semifinal round. Fiat finished his two-year Tiger career with 23 goals and a 19-11 cumulative record.
But that wasn’t the end of his lacrosse journey.
In November 2006, he signed a free-agent contract with the NLL’s Philadelphia Wings, where one of his teammates was his former defensive coordinator at Towson, Shawn Nadelen. Fiat played in 14 games as a defenseman for the Wings that season and his only goal of the year was a memorable one. He scored the game-winner on March 24, 2007, with 40 seconds remaining in Philadelphia’s come-from-behind victory over the Chicago Shamrox.
“Playing in the NLL was a pretty awesome experience,” said Fiat, who was used mostly as a defensive transition player. “It all started by going to a tryout, and then I ended up making the team.”
With just one season of indoor lacrosse experience, Fiat then survived another set of tryouts to earn a spot on the U.S. team for the 2007 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship. He was one of six Wings players selected for Team USA and helped the U.S. capture the bronze medal in the eight-nation tournament played in Halifax, Canada.
“It was incredible to see the skill set of the players at that level,” Fiat said. “I was so amazed to be a part of it.”
Playing for an international championship was indeed quite an ascension for the Utah native who didn’t pick up a lacrosse stick until his junior year of high school. Even then, his primary motive was to use spring lacrosse as a conditioning vehicle to stay in shape for football.
Since 2011, Fiat, now married and the father of 5-year-old twin daughters, has been the varsity boys’ lacrosse coach at Dulaney High School in Baltimore County, where he also serves as a physical education teacher. He’s astounded by the talent level of today’s players.
“It’s so fun to watch my players and see what they can do,” Fiat said. “They are so far beyond where I was as a high school player in Utah. I took a leap of faith when I left Utah, but I never dreamt I’d still be living in Maryland all these years later. It’s been an incredible journey.”