By day, Damien Davis is a finance research analyst. He lives in Federal Hill and works in Mt. Vernon. Davis? second job, however, requires strength, speed, agility and a helmet.
Davis is a defender for the Chicago Machine, and is in his fourth season playing in Major League Lacrosse. He commutes to Chicago for practice and home games.
“It is fun,” Davis said about playing pro lacrosse. “[There is] a lot of traveling, which can be tiring. But we get to play in a lot of different cities for different fans, against great guys and the highest competition.”
Davis has always been part of that highest competition. He has been with championship teams in high school, college and the pros. Davis graduated from Gilman School in 1999 and was part of the 1998 MIAA A Conference title team.
Playing defense at Princeton, Davis had a key role in the 2001 national championship. In overtime against Syracuse, Davis checked the ball away from Mikey Powell to give Princeton possession that led to the game-winning score.
Davis was drafted by the Boston Cannons after he graduated from Princeton in 2003.
Long Island then acquired the defenseman in a trade, and he became part of the 2003 MLL championship season for the Lizards.
Davis stuck with Long Island for another season, and played in Philadelphia in 2005 before being picked up by the Machine in the 2006 expansion draft.
“With expansion teams, guys come from everywhere,” Davis said. “It is great; there are no egos and everybody understands it is going to be a building process.”
After a 19-16 Saturday night in Baltimore, Davis spent time after the game greeting friends and family. “It is fun to finally get home, [and play] in front of my family,” said Davis, who estimated 15 to 20 people were there just to see him.
Chicago has started its first season with two losses, but Davis was optimistic after the loss to the Bayhawks. “[The Bayhawks] are a good team, and we are still coming together,” Davis said. “We kept fighting hard. It was a big difference from last week. We still got in a hole, but we kept it a little closer.”
THE DAVIS FILE
Height: 6-1
Weight: 225
Team: Chicago Machine 2006, Philadelphia Barrage 2005, Long Island Lizards 2003-2004
High school: Gilman, class of 1999
College: Princeton, class of 2003
Did you know? Davis had four groundballs inSaturday?s loss in Baltimore… Davis was named to the All-American team three times during his days at Princeton.
