Kyle Foster (right) plays defense against a teammate in practice. Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
Kyle Foster helped Ohio State’s lacrosse program make history.
Now, he’s trading his scarlet and gray for some red, white and blue.
Foster, a junior defenseman who helped Ohio State capture its first Big Ten Championship, was recently named to Team USA to compete at the 2025 World Lacrosse Men’s U20 Championship on Jeju Island, Korea. Foster is one of 22 players representing the United States in the 20-team event, which spans from Aug. 15 to 24.
“Wearing the red, white and blue means I’m representing my country on the global stage,” Foster said. “It just means all my hard work that I’ve put in these past years has really paid off.”
The Maryland native’s passion for lacrosse was sparked by his family’s deep roots with the sport. Foster’s father, Richard, played lacrosse at Roanoke College while his older brother, Patrick, played for North Carolina.
“I remember going to my brother’s games at UNC all the time,” he said. “It motivated me because I wanted to be just like him. I wanted to be out there on the field.”
A three-sport high school athlete who also excelled at volleyball and basketball, Foster said his variety of athletic experience improved his lacrosse technique.
“Basketball helped me with my footwork,” Foster said. “It’s kind of like lacrosse in the same sense that on the defensive side, you have to move your feet and communicate.”
During his college recruitment, Foster said the brotherhood that Ohio State’s lacrosse program fostered stuck out.
“It just kind of made it feel like home right away,” Foster said. “When you step on campus, it doesn’t feel like, ‘Oh, you’re a freshman,’ like you’re conscious of the new guy in town. They don’t treat you like that at all.”
As a freshman, Foster saw the field in 12 games, playing primarily as a long-stick midfielder. His impact included two ground balls and five caused turnovers, but Foster said he spent much of the year learning the system and adjusting to the college game.
“Everybody’s fast, everybody’s strong,” Foster said. “The ball just moved so much faster. There’s so much more terminology that I need to remember compared to high school.”
That language included not just familiar terms like “hot” and “fire,” which indicate the first slide on defense, but more complex terminology mapping specific areas of the field, like “zero” (behind the cage), “100 alley,” and “500.” Foster picked it up through repetition in practice and film sessions with defensive coordinator Coach Crane and veteran teammates, Cullen Brown and Bobby Van Buren.
By his sophomore season, Foster was ready to make the transition to a close defender role, lining up alongside Brown and Van Buren—two players Foster said he has looked up to.
“They kind of brought me in because they knew this was my first year actually playing close and playing with them,” Foster said. “So, yes, they were hard on me, which I needed just to kind of get comfortable and everything. But they also brought me in, like a little brother kind of thing.”
As his comfort grew, so did his confidence. In 17 games this past season, Foster recorded 10 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers, more than doubling his freshman season and making him top 10 nationally.
Head coach Nick Myers said he has appreciated how quickly Foster developed as a member of his team.
“We knew he was special coming out of high school when we recruited him,” Myers said. “To play a pretty significant role as a true freshman, and then to really step into a starting, close defensive role last year–really just proud of his growth in his first two years with us.”
Myers said it’s not just Foster’s talent that makes him an asset; it’s also his willingness to be coached, his attention to detail and his eagerness to learn.
“He’s very curious,” Myers said. “He’s always wanting to understand and get a sense of what the standards are. He’s a really hard worker. He’s a guy that, when you coach him, and you do empower him with responsibility, he takes it and kind of runs with it.”
Foster’s sophomore season saw historic moments that he said made him understand just how special his team was.
But history wasn’t made overnight. Ohio State opened the season with a tough 19-13 loss to Utah.
“That kind of sparked everybody,” Foster said. “That was the fire that we needed, kind of like, ‘Okay, we got this, we got to step up.’”
And step up they did.
The Buckeyes rattled off an 11-game win streak, toppling national powers like Virginia, Notre Dame and Penn State. In one of the season’s most memorable moments, they clawed their way back from an 8-6 fourth-quarter deficit to beat Michigan and clinch the program’s first-ever Big Ten regular season title.
Foster and the Buckeyes followed it up with another milestone, defeating Maryland to win their first Big Ten Tournament Championship.
It was during this season, through the pressure, the big moments and the growth, that Foster laid the groundwork for his next step: earning a spot on the U.S. U20 national team.
The journey to Team USA began in June of 2024, when around 80 players were selected for the initial tryout that would eventually lead to a roster of 22. Following the five opportunities to watch Foster and other top players from around the country compete, Team USA’s staff announced on Wednesday the completed roster after a final tryout at Cornell University.
Assistant coach of Team USA, Ryan McClay, singled Foster out for his rapid growth in his last season and noted like the rest of Team USA’s defensive unit, he has a disciplined and unselfish approach to his game.
Foster becomes another Buckeye that will represent his country on the national level. Jack Oldman, a junior FOGO, will suit up for Team Canada in the upcoming games on Jeju Island.
In recent history, Ryan Terefenko, a former Ohio State midfielder, played for Team USA in the 2023 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship.
Foster’s selection marks another highlight in his career, one that Myers said is special to both his team and Foster.
“I know this Team USA experience is something he’s had as a goal for a long time,” Myers said. “He’s got an opportunity to chase down a gold medal this month.”
Foster said he was caught off guard when assistant coach Ryan McClay broke the news over the phone that he had made the team.
“He was like, ‘You want the good news or the bad news?’” Foster said. “So I’m like, ‘Alright, well, I just got cut.’ That just stinks. And then I said ‘I’ll have the bad news.’ And he was like, ‘The bad news is, you have to spend three weeks with me in Korea,’ and then I knew the good news is obviously I made the team so I was really shocked. Doesn’t feel real, but it was an amazing feeling.”
For Foster, the opportunity to compete with players from different programs is part of what makes this experience special.
“I’m super excited to kind of see how everyone else plays together,” Foster said. “And obviously just competing for that gold fires me up.”
The chance to represent the U.S. is an experience Myers said carries a unique weight, one that Foster is prepared for.
“Anytime you get to wear the red, white and blue, it’s hard to really put that into words,” Myers said. “Kyle certainly appreciates the responsibility. There’s pressure, but there’s also opportunity that comes with it.”
