On today’s episode of the Lax Goalie Rat Podcast, I’m joined by recent All-American Army West Point grad Knox Dent.
Knox just wrapped up a phenomenal final season with the Black Knights, his first season as a starter.
The senior was heroic throughout Army’s postseason run in the Patriot League and NCAA Tournaments. He made 52 saves in the Black Knight’s four postseason games to guide them to a Patriot League title and to their first NCAA Tournament win since 2010.
— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) March 25, 2023
Dent would then go on to put on a show in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, making 16 saves, leading Army to its first tournament win since 2010 over No. 4 Maryland before bowing out to Penn State in the quarterfinals.
Here’s a montage of Knox Dent’s best saves vs. Maryland and the story behind his injury, as told by @AnishESPN 👇 pic.twitter.com/g2OQsHam1Q
His stellar 9.51 GAA and .533 Save % were enough to earn him the honors of Patriot League Goalie of the Year and a 2nd team USILA All-American. He’s Army’s first USILA Second Team All-American since Marcus Hudgins in 2021 and the 67th in program history.
His biggest moment by far this season though was during a game against Loyola.
After suffering a torn meniscus while trying to intercept a pass on man-down Dent rose to his feet and scrambled above goal line extended to make the diving save and preventing the Greyhounds from scoring an easy EMO open-netter.
If you thought Knox Dent back-heeling the ball in his own net last night was going to prevent him from coming up big down the stretch, you may have missed when his knee gave out and still came up with the best play in college lacrosse that week. https://t.co/oCcG37XXgTpic.twitter.com/O0lxxf7SLW
It was an incredible display of athleticism and the kind of heart one can only expect from the brave men who devote their lives to serving.
Knox ended up making the jump to goalie in 5th grade after the team’s goalie didn’t show up for the game, he was thrown into the net and ended up doing a lot better than many people expected. After the performance, it wasn’t long before Dent became a full-time goalie.
Dent spent time attending the Bill Pilat Goalie School when he was younger and he attributes a lot of his development as a young goalie to the structure that he built in his game while at these camps.
The native of Denver, CO grew up watching many Denver Pioneer greats like Ryan Laplante as a young goalie and even attended a few of Ryan’s camps while he was working with 3D Lacrosse.
Lacrosse was something Knox knew he wanted to play in college and in sophomore year he started receiving offers to different schools.
Knox didn’t initially consider going to West Point as an option early in his recruiting process. But after talking to the coaches and meeting players on the team it felt like an obvious decision for him to make. Knox gave some tips during the show on what things you should consider when making your decision to play at the next level.
Dent is now working as a 2nd lieutenant in the US Army while also helping the coaches of the lacrosse team on the operations side and is hoping to help out the goalies at Army this season.
I hope you enjoy this episode with Knox Dent where we touch on a multitude of topics including how to overcome the fear of the ball, how to have a strong sense of belief in your goalie game, mental lessons from his college career and much more!
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