Colin Kirst’s Advice for Being More Explosive in Net – LGR 185

By Coach Damon

December 15, 2022

Posted In: Podcast

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On today’s Lax Goalie Rat Podcast episode, I sit down to chat with Cannons lacrosse club goalie and Rutgers alumni, Colin Kirst.

Kirst is a goalie we’ve certainly been looking to get on the show for a while now and I’m happy we were finally able to make this happen!

Colin is coming off a successful college career with Rutgers & Lehigh.

The native of Bernardsville, NJ was a 2-time All-American, 2-time Rutgers Werblin Award, and Big Ten Specialist of the Year, just to name a few of the many accolades Kirst had collected during his time with the Scarlet Knights.

Prior to arriving on campus at Piscataway, NJ Colin grew up in the infamous Kirst family household which features 5 Division 1 lacrosse players.

Colin’s youngest brother Caden just recently announced his commitment to Rutgers.

Colin talks about what it was like growing up in a lacrosse family and the many stories from the backyard playing lacrosse with his brothers.

Kirst originally committed to attend Lehigh University where he sat behind great goalies such as James Spence and Donny Stires.

It’s crazy to think that a goalie with Kirst’s resume barely saw any playing time with the Golden Hawks but Kirst does mention how being a backup made him a better goalie in the long term as well as other ways you can contribute to your team when you’re not playing.

In 2021, after receiving an additional year due to COVID Colin would transfer to Rutgers along with his older brother Connor following in the footsteps of their late father Kyle who was a goaltender with the Scarlet Knights as well.

Colin didn’t receive many offers when he entered the transfer portal. Rutgers was really the only school that had reached out to Kirst. But the opportunity to play for the team who grew up watching, follow in his parent’s footsteps, and being close to home really made it a no-brainer decision to join the Scarlet Knights.

Upon arriving on Campus in the fall of 2020 the starting spot wasn’t guaranteed to Kirst. However, after putting in the hard work during fall ball Kirst was named the starter on opening day and wouldn’t relinquish that title for the rest of his college career.

Kirst would go on to lead the Scarlet Knights to a first-round win over his former Lehigh squad and earn a spot in the quarterfinals before bowing out to the North Carolina Tarheels.

The following season Colin was lucky enough to take advantage of a medical redshirt freshman season to return to Rutgers and lead the Scarlet Knight into the NCAA Tournament and help them clinch their first Final 4 bid in program history.

In the Final 4, Colin would face off with younger brother CJ in a highly touted matchup between brothers for a shot at the National Championship.

Colin was also drafted by the Cannons Lacrosse Club this past season and would go on to play his first season in the PLL under friend of the program and former goalie Coach Sean Quirk.

Kirst served as a backup to Nick Marracco for most of the season but got his first start in the Cannons’ final regular season game making 9 saves in a loss to the Whipsnakes.

Colin joins the show today to discuss early lessons in the cage, why he transferred to Rutgers, a film breakdown of the Final 4, and much more!