For Carroll senior Max Bushaw, lacrosse has never been a phase or a pastime. It has been a constant — something woven into his life since first grade, when most kids are still trying out sports to see what sticks.
“I started super young,” the kindergrad from Rockenbaugh Elementary said. “What drew me into the sport was definitely my dad.”
His father, Owen, certainly didn’t grow up in a traditional lacrosse hotbed. He was raised in Oklahoma, where football reigns and lacrosse was virtually invisible. It wasn’t until he arrived at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that he encountered the sport for the first time. The discovery changed the trajectory of both father and son as a stick soon found its way into Max’s hands. What began as backyard throws evolved into a disciplined pursuit of early mornings, travel tournaments, and hours of wall ball.
Fast forward to 2026, and Max is now a Division I commit to the University of Notre Dame – the back-to-back national lacrosse champions in 2023 and 2024 one of the best programs in the country.
“I never saw myself not being able to play at that level,” he said. “I always believed I could do it.”
Seeds Planted
Owen was on Marquette’s school sailing team when he noticed some students playing lacrosse. He was instantly drawn to it – a game that looked like a beautiful, violent collision of every sport he’d ever loved.
"Club lacrosse was kind of serious at Marquette," Owen said. “I saw them playing and had no idea what it was, but the game appealed to me. I joined because I was fast – I had no stick skills. But it became a thing.”
That "thing" became an obsession. Suddenly, Owen found himself playing wall ball during study breaks and traveling with the club team to play bigger schools like Notre Dame and Ohio State. Owen played through the rest of his time in Milwaukee and even continued at the University of Arkansas after graduation until an injury sidelined him permanently. But the seed was planted. He saw in lacrosse a perfect athletic harmony.
"It’s every sport in one," Owen said. "Hit, run, you have a ball; if you make a mistake, you can recover immediately. It’s fast-paced. I had an instant liking for it.”
Owen was so eager to get Max started on playing that he bent the rules a bit, admittedly.
"I told people Max was a year older than he actually was when he was a little kid, just so he could start playing early," he laughed.
Sticking With ItBy the time Max reached his freshman year at Carroll, the fundamentals he’d practiced since the first grade had evolved into something far more sophisticated. For Owen, the realization that Max was moving into a different stratosphere came that year in the form of a "Twizzler."
In lacrosse parlance, a Twizzler is a high-level, deceptive shot where a player rotates the stick across their body, snapping the ball into the corner of the goal from an impossible angle. It requires a level of wrist strength and "feel" that most high schoolers haven't yet developed.
"He was a freshman when he pulled it off," Owen recalls. "After that, I actually had to start wearing a helmet just to play catch with him in the backyard. His velocity and precision had surpassed the 'casual' stage."
Yet, Owen is quick to point out that Max’s true edge isn't just the shot — it’s his mind. "Max is infinitely better than I ever was,” Owen said. “His off-ball movement and lacrosse IQ are off the charts. He’s fluid, smart, and strong. There’s really no position on the field that, in my mind, he isn’t elite at.”
To truly sharpen his game, Max sought to move beyond the familiar confines of regional play and measure his skills against the best the national circuit had to offer. His trajectory shifted permanently when he joined the Mad Dog National Team, lining up against elite athletes from East Coast hotbeds where the sport is a religion.
"He always excelled around other Texas athletes," Owen said. "When he joined Mad Dog, he was playing against kids where lacrosse is their entire life, and he was good against them. Nothing against the Texas kids, but the East Coast lacrosse players live and breathe the sport. When Max did well against them, that’s when the realization hit, for me, that he could go as far as he wanted."
That belief showed up early at Carroll. As a freshman in 2023, Bushaw earned a spot on the varsity lacrosse team — a rare accomplishment for a first-year player. “When he started as a freshman, it really stood out to me and our community that Max could be a special player,” said Carroll head coach Bruce Frady.
‘Max Can Play Anywhere On The Field’
Max backed up his own expectations with production: 42 goals and 7 assists, immediately becoming a focal point in the Dragons’ offense But beyond the stats, his freshman season delivered one of the most defining lessons of his career.
“That year, we played the Episcopal School of Dallas in the playoffs,” Max said. “We lost by one goal in overtime and they went on to win state that year.”
The loss lingered. Not as a setback, but as a measuring stick.
“That loss taught me lessons I will carry through my entire lacrosse career,” he said.
In 2024, Max’s sophomore season looked different on paper — 28 goals and 12 assists — but reflected something deeper happening within Carroll’s system. Rather than being defined strictly as a scorer, Max was expanding his game and embracing a more versatile role.
“Playing at a Texas public school for lacrosse teaches you how to do everything on the field,” Max said. “I can be the guy with the ball initiating the offense or be an off-ball guy working to find space to score.”
That evolution wasn’t accidental, but by design.
“To be a great offensive player you have to have the skill set to be a great feeder, shooter, dodger, and two-way midfielder,” Frady said. “Max can play anywhere on the field and, in my opinion, be one of the best players on the field because of his overall skill.”
By Max’s junior year, everything clicked.
A more versatile and mature Bushaw posted 47 goals and 16 assists, combining scoring, vision, and control in a way that made him one of the most dangerous players in the country. He had become the type of player who could dictate a game’s rhythm, and some of the country’s top college programs wanted him. He committed to Notre Dame as a four-star recruit before his junior season had ended.
“[That season] taught me not to wait for someone else to make a play, and how to be able to take control of a game,” Max said.
From Southlake to South Bend
At a school known nationally for football, Carroll’s lacrosse program has carved out its own identity — one rooted in substance.
“What makes the Carroll lacrosse program special is the brotherhood of the team,” Bushaw said.
It’s not just a buzzword. Bushaw still keeps in touch with players from every class ahead of him, a reflection of a program where alumni return to mentor the youth.
“I’ve met some of my closest friends on this team,” he said. “I still keep in touch with Jack Manero [currently playing lacrosse at West Point] and Connor Spagnoli [recently graduated from Towson]. I also still keep in touch with [former Carroll lacrosse players] Tyler Williams, Christian Coniglio, Drake Anderson, and more.
“Everybody cares about each other and wants to see the team succeed.”
That environment helped shape Max as much as any drill. “We’re known for football, but being able to compete with the top lacrosse teams in Texas shows how well-rounded we are. Coach Frady holds us to a very high standard and pushes me to be better every day. He’s shown me how to lead the team while maintaining a good balance of love and accountability.”
When the college recruiting process narrowed, Max found his alignment at Notre Dame.
“It’s the right fit for me because I’ll have the opportunity to compete for championships while earning a top-tier education,” he said. “It challenges me athletically, sharpens me academically, and aligns with the standard I hold for myself.”
On the turf, Max is joining a juggernaut. Under the guidance of legendary head coach Kevin Corrigan, the Fighting Irish have ascended to the iron throne of the NCAA with back-to-back National Championships in 2023 and 2024, punctuated by a masterclass 15-5 victory over Maryland in the '24 title game. While the Irish fell just short of a legendary three-peat in 2025 — dropping a 14-12 heartbreaker to Penn State in the quarterfinals — the foundation remains unshakable.
By heading to South Bend, Max enters an environment where "rebuilding" is a foreign concept and "reloading" is the expectation. He joins a locker room defined by elite talent and a relentless winning culture, positioning himself to be a key piece in the Irish’s quest to reclaim the throne.
For a kid who spent his childhood perfecting "Twizzlers" in a Texas backyard, the opportunity to wear the iconic gold helmet is the ultimate validation of a decade of work.
“I felt very grateful and had a big reflection on everything that it took me to get to where I am now,” he said of signing. “But at the same time, I know this is just the beginning.”
More Than Production
Max entered his senior season with a career total of 117 goals and 35 assists — numbers that place him among the most impactful players in Carroll history. However, his final chapter as a Dragon took an unexpected turn. A nagging lower-body injury sidelined the star for all but two games of his senior season.
While it wasn't the swan song he envisioned, the time on the sideline allowed Max to transition fully into a player-coach role, pouring his energy into the underclassmen.
“I want my legacy to be bigger than stats or awards,” he said. “I want younger players to look at my path and see that you don’t need perfect circumstances to succeed. You just need belief and work ethic. I hope I showed them that if you put your mind to something and commit to it fully, anything’s possible, no matter where you start. More than anything, I want to be remembered as someone who raised the standard, led the right way, and made the next generation believe they can achieve more.”
As he turns the page on Carroll and looks ahead to the lacrosse hotbed that is the Atlantic Coast Conference, that journey — marked by belief and leadership — is already leaving a permanent mark. Max’s legacy won’t just be measured in the "Twizzler" goals of his youth, but in the standard of excellence he leaves behind for every Dragon who picks up a stick.