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After a tough regular season loss, MICDS boys lacrosse coach Andy Kay knew he could count on junior Steele Crissman to help right the ship for the potential rematch.

“We lost to CBC in the regular season (13-10 on May 1) and I think the boys and the coaching staff shared a lot of ownership over not adjusting to CBC's zone defense that they rolled out with,” Kay said. “After that game, we calculated that we would see them again and that that we would certainly see that same defense again, so we had really three weeks and Steele was intricately involved in the design of how we would play our offense and really bought into it.”

The Rams did indeed see the Cadets again, in the Class 2 championship game on May 23. Crissman dished out five assists to lead MICDS to a convincing 17-5 win for its 13th state title and 10th in the last 11 seasons.

“You know, I just kind of knew going in this was a game where I would have to be prepared to just throw ego and everything aside and just focus on hitting the seams and getting guys the ball,” Crissman said. “And, honestly, we executed it, I don't say perfectly, but decently close and you know my guys finished the ball.”

Crissman was selected to the Class 2 all-state first team this spring and now joins a long list of other Rams standouts as the All-Metro boys lacrosse player of the year.

"We’ve had our fair share of All-Metro players of the year, and I think a common ingredient amongst all those guys is their willingness to teach younger players in our community,” Kay said. “So, by design, you know Steele already is a coach. He coaches a lot of young players, and it was fun to kind of see him think about how we were going to install that offense. He really built those parts to a whole and it was very clear in the game that he knew exactly where every one of those CBC athletes was going to be on the field and how they were gonna rotate and how was he going to adjust and manipulate and probe.”

Crissman finished second in the area scoring race with an even 100 points, which included 36 goals.

But it was his work in setting up teammates that really stood out. Crissman delivered 64 assists this season, which was 25 more than his nearest area competitor. It’s an aspect of the game he loves.

“I was just thinking the other day, I've been playing with most of these guys actually on my club team, guys like Ian (Spakowski), Mikey (Gutchewsky) and Graham (Faust), for maybe the past seven years now,” Crissman said. “They've always been there, just cutting through for me, getting out of my way when I'm dodging and then getting in spots. I just do a little bit of the work and they're always there to finish it. That's the greatest feeling ever when you connect on a play with some of your guys.”

Kay calls Crissman “the glue for everyone” and lauded his play on all parts of the field, including his incredible ability to get his teammates the ball in dangerous positions to score.

“He's always been a really good feeder. I think his scoring ability has evolved as he's gotten physically bigger and stronger,” Kay said. “Like all young guys, he's gone through his points where he wanted to be the one to put the ball in the net, but when it counted, he knew he was gonna have a lot of attention on him and it was just about making the right lacrosse play and he did that.”

Crissman has been able to take all that he’s learned from Rams standouts before him and apply that to being a leader, including Willy Carpenter, the 2024 All-Metro player of the year who now plays for Washington and Lee.

“I’ve probably called him four times already this summer just to talk about random things,” Crissman said. “We just built a really good relationship early and he was such a good captain because he made sure to have a relationship with all of our guys off the fields. I think that was something that was super important for us this year.”

Crissman learned to be an MICDS great because he’s been around the program most of his life. His father, Steele Sr., was an assistant on Kay’s first two teams that advanced to the state title game in 2011 and 2012.

“It's been fun to see him be that little kid at practice and now he's the All-Metro player of the year. He's been in our program longer than anyone possible, really,” Kay said. “We hired Steele's father to be a part of our program because we just felt like we wanted the kids to have a tough guy around, kind of a hulking guy. He brought an edge to our program that I think helped us kind of get over the hump in 2014, even though he wasn't on the sidelines. And, you know, little Steele was there during the evolution of it, so he knew what it took.”

Crissman has already given a verbal commitment to the University of Denver, so that decision won’t be weighing on his mind as he gets ready for his senior year.

“I think that place is perfect for me,” he said. “I watched them win a national championship in 2015 and I thought that was the coolest thing. And then just watching them and watching the players that have come out of there — a lot of which are in the pros now. And not to mention the mountains, which is somewhere I try to visit every year. I just thought it was like literally the coolest place.”

Kay feels his standout will thrive when he gets to the Rocky Mountains in the fall of 2026.

“Generally, Denver’s roster on the offensive side features a lot of Canadians and Steele’s game is kind of Canadian,” Kay said. “He's a deception guy and I think he's a hesitation guy. He's got multiple release points on his passes and his shooting, and you could see that on display in the championship. And so, he's gonna really fit in well into their style of play and that staff is really invested in him.”