Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse at RV/#19 Fairfield on March 1, 2025 , Loss , 7, to, 15
Men's Lacrosse
at RV/#19 Fairfield
Final
7
-
15
Providence College Athletics
Catching Up With Former Friar Lacrosse Player Dylan Cox
5/7/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
May 7, 2009
NEWCASTLE, AUSTRALIA - Former Friar lacrosse defenseman Dylan Cox graduated from Providence College in May 2008 as an experienced traveler. Between two years of hockey and two years of lacrosse at PC, Cox made stops in Colorado, Wisconsin, North Carolina and even up into Canada to compete in a number of games, matches and tournaments. Despite the thousands of miles that he logged by car, bus, train and plane in his four years as a Friar, nothing could prepare him for the over 10,000 mile journey he took to land a job that he never expected to get.
One year later, Cox is having the time of his life playing professional hockey in Newcastle, Australia, a city about 70 miles north of Sydney. The 2008 All-MAAC Lacrosse Second Team selection plays left wing for the Newcastle North Stars, a team in the country's professional Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). After competing on the Providence lacrosse team for his final two seasons at PC, hockey isn't exactly what came to mind initially when he thought of his future career path, but he has thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Cox originally took the trip from Boston to Sydney as part of a deal with one of his friends from high school. The two friends planned to land in Sydney and work their way up the east coast of Australia hoping to find work in a small beach town and spend some time kite boarding.
They wound up in Newcastle and Dylan began looking for a job. He approached the local hockey rink about work in maintenance or operations and ended up talking to the right guy.
"I got talking with the rink manager, who is also the general managers of the North Stars, and told him that I played hockey for Providence during my freshman and sophomore years," Cox said. "They asked me to practice with the team the next night."
After practicing with the North Stars for a week, Cox officially made the team and had his old PC hockey gear shipped down to Australia by former lacrosse teammate Henry Pynchon.
The team practices three days a week and plays games on the weekend, traveling around the country to compete in the various cities that field teams in the AIHL.
Initially worried about his transformation back into a hockey player, Dylan said the process hasn't been as bad as he originally thought.
"The coaches and players have really been good about it. Getting the touch and control of the puck back has probably been the most difficult part of the transition," Cox said. "Fortunately, I have been playing hockey my whole life, so it's not nearly as bad as when I walked out to PC lacrosse tryouts with my hockey helmet and gear on."
The rest of the North Stars have embraced Cox, who is one of four non-Australian players, or imports, that each team in the AIHL is allowed. Getting to know the other players has been relatively easy for Dylan, as he played with two of the other imports on the team during his year of prep school at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire.
"We have a lot of mutual friends in the league from back home, but almost all of the imports are from Canada," Cox said. Everybody here thinks we're from Canada because they associate hockey with the country. Everybody asks me about what it's like living there and I have to explain my situation to them."
While he has been busy getting acquainted with Australia, hockey, kite boarding and just convincing people that he's really not from Canada, Cox has still had time to keep up with the Providence lacrosse team during its run to the 2009 MAAC Tournament. He exchanges periodic emails with head coach Chris Burdick and some of his old teammates and has a vested interest in the team that helped make his experience at PC so rewarding.
"I was extremely lucky to have had the opportunity to graduate from Providence and even luckier to have competed in athletics at PC," Cox said. "Hard work, sacrifice and accountability are three things that I gained at Providence that I will bring with me for the rest of my life."
Cox says that Coach Burdick giving him a chance after he left the PC hockey team really motivated him to succeed as a student and an athlete.
"I was one bad grade away from getting kicked out of school," Cox said. "I tried out for the lacrosse team my junior year knowing that my academics needed to improve. Playing lacrosse really put everything back into perspective for me. I honestly would not be where I am today without the help of people like Father Nowel, Mr. [Bob] Driscoll and Coach Burdick giving me the chance to succeed."
Dylan plans to stay in Australia for a year or so and hopes to work in the New England area when he eventually returns to the U.S. He also has plans to play for Finland, where he has dual citizenship, in the Hockey World Championships held in Manchester, England in 2010.
At least for the time being, he knows that his experience as a student-athlete at PC will help guide him through the upcoming AIHL season and everything that comes with it.
"The North Star coaches called me into their offices after I joined the team to discuss their policies and high expectations of me," Cox said. "There policies were easy to follow after having played for an institution with such strong demands for self-discipline and self-motivation as Providence College. PC has prepared me well, and I have a good feeling that's the way it will seem from here on out."
Players Mentioned
Attack
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Saturday, April 17
LAX vs. St. John's
Saturday, April 10
LAX vs. Denver
Saturday, March 27
LAX vs. Georgetown
Saturday, March 20
