A long-stick away from Long Island Sound.
Next fall, Cole Kennett is set to move nearly 4,900 km east from the comforts of his Coquitlam home to test his lacrosse skills at the highest level of collegiate sports in North America.
The 17-year-old athlete recently put pen to paper, signing his national letter of intent, in committing to Fairfield University in Connecticut starting in the 2024 season.
The Stags compete in the eight-team Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) conference of NCAA Div. I field lacrosse.
Kennett, currently a student at Centennial Secondary student, also won two national championships this year — both in the box and on the pitch.
The defender and occasional long-stick midfielder compiled an assist and six penalty minutes en route to a gold medal with Team B.C. at the 2022 Canada Summer Games.
He followed up a month later with a national championship for the province once more at the 2022 Lacrosse Canada Alumni Cup in Fredericton, N.B.
He was also a member of the Coquitlam Jr. 'B' Adanacs before earning the Canada Summer Games nod.
While he was in Niagara, Ont., his purple and gold teammates settled for silver at the Founders' Cup in Brampton, Ont.
In 2019, Kennett won the U.S. national box lacrosse championships as a member of the All-Canadian team.
He's set to join a Stags' field club that just missed out on the playoffs following a 7-7 record from the 2021-22 campaign.
Fairfield's last regular-season conference title was in 2016, which completed a three-peat of CAA banners since 2014.
The program has only been to the NCAA championship tournament twice since its inception, 2002 and 2005.
Fairfield is located southwest of Bridgeport, Conn., and about 93 km northeast of New York City.
Meanwhile, Kennett's Centennial teammate Nathan Chalmers has also committed to playing NCAA Div. I field lacrosse slightly closer to home with the University of Utah.
Chalmers was also part of B.C.'s national-championship rosters at both the Canada Summer Games and Alumni Cup tournaments.
