“Young men like Ryan Lewis are the reason I coach.”

That's pretty high praise from Auburn boys lacrosse coach Steve Crosby. But just talk to Lewis for about five minutes, and you'll see exactly what Crosby means.

Take for example, Lewis' outlook on Division-I lacrosse.

“Still, the No. 1 goal is to have fun,” Lewis said during an interview prior to Sunday's game between his Wildcats and the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome. “If you take it too seriously, you might think negatively upon it if you don't perform well. If you go out to have fun, only positive things come out of it. The reason to play is to grow as a person and come out of it positively.”

Despite being on the wrong end of 21-6 score on Sunday, it's been nothing but positives for Lewis so far.

For the junior midfielder, the chance to play in front of a home crowd - in spite of the fact that Villanova was the away team, plenty of Auburnians made the journey to the Dome - was cause for excitement. The closest Lewis had played to home since graduating was at Hofstra University, outside of New York City.

Among those in attendance was Crosby, who was thrilled at the chance to see one of Auburn's own in action.

“It's a really special feeling to know that Ryan came to our program, came to summer leagues, and he's had a lot of great coaches over the years,” Crosby said. “It's exciting for all of us to go over to the Dome and watch. It's a great day for lacrosse.”

It's a day Lewis didn't even see coming. A lifelong hockey player, he was introduced to lacrosse at about 8 years old, using his uncle's old lacrosse stick and a PVC goal in his backyard. With two older brothers, a younger brother and a younger sister, competition was never lacking at the Lewis house.

From there he hit the summer camps and youth leagues, where he honed his skills and worked his way through modified and varsity.

In his sophomore year of high school he realized lacrosse could present him with an opportunity. He began receiving letters of interest from colleges, and at that point his focus narrowed.

“My original goal was to use lacrosse to get into a school that I probably wouldn't have been able to,” Lewis said.

With that already accomplished - Lewis has been accepted into the mechanical engineering program - the rest is just gravy.

A three-time offensive MVP at Auburn and a two-time, first-team all-league player, Lewis is hardly lighting up the scoreboard as a Wildcat.

The 5-foot-9, 185-pound midfielder has taken a more defensive role at Villanova. He appeared in 10 games as a rookie, and played in 11 games a season ago, tallying one assist each year.

The switch should come as no surprise.

“Whenever we asked something of Ryan he always responded with whatever's best for the team,” Crosby said. “He did everything with a smile on his face.”

That smiling face has also made appearances at the summer youth camps put on by the Auburn school district - another move that didn't surprise Crosby in the least. He could see it coming from the time Lewis was a participant in the camp himself.

“The whole staff knew he was destined for great things,” Crosby said. “You could tell by the way he interacted with the other kids, the way he carried himself - he was a natural leader. He's just a special young man.”