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MC goalie will play for Seawolves
Boys' lacrosse
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Lacrosse fans of Middle Country's star goalie, Nick DiGiacomo, won't have to travel far if they wish to follow his collegiate athletic career. DiGiacomo, who just graduated from Centereach High School, will be playing for the Stony Brook Seawolves beginning next spring.
For DiGiacomo, it wasn't a matter of settling on the closest college to his home but rather relishing the opportunity to continue his studies at an elite science college where he plans to be a biochemistry major. Among those expressing interest in DiGiacomo and recruiting him included Notre Dame, Yale, Brown, the University of Massachusetts and Harvard. Yet DiGiacomo agreed to attend nearby Stony Brook.
"They have a D-1 athletic program and really had what I wanted with regard to my major," said DiGiacomo. "I think it's a perfect fit. Plus, they have a 99 percent acceptance rate in their graduate program too."
DiGiacomo, a two-time All-County lacrosse goalie for Middle Country, is not expecting to immediately take control of the Stony Brook net right away.
"They already have two senior goalies there," DiGiacomo said. "So, I'm not expecting to start. But that's okay with me because it gives me time to catch up with the speed of the college game. Besides, I have three more years after this year."
DiGiacomo was introduced to lacrosse in a second grade gym class. "I wanted to be the goalie because no one else wanted to do it," he said.
The roots took and DiGiacomo began to favor lacrosse over the other popular sports. "Everyone wanted to play baseball or football," he said. "But who wants to stop a ball coming at you at 100 miles per hour?"
From the third grade on he began attending camp for lacrosse goalies. By the time he entered middle school he was playing lacrosse seven days a week upon reaching high school where his dedication to the sport began to show dividends. DiGiacomo earned All-Division honors as a sophomore and All-County honors as a junior and senior. The two-year Middle Country captain was also voted as the team's Most Valuable Player in both his junior and senior years. All this was accomplished while compiling a splendid 3.7 grade-point average.
"Nick was a great student athlete," said Middle Country coach Ken Budd. "As a lacrosse player, he was one of the hardest working players I've ever coached. He was a pleasure to be around and he was one of the kids who you could really count on. Win or lose, he would love to talk about the game the next day. He's also a science guy and Stony Brook is a good fit for him."
DiGiacomo led Middle Country to their first playoff appearance (since 2004) in 2008. More importantly, they enjoyed their first-ever home playoff win in 2008, an 8-5 victory over William Floyd before losing 6-0 in the second round to Ward Melville. Despite the loss, DiGiacomo shined, collecting a career high 29 saves against the Patriots.
Over the course of his career he set a team record with 779 saves. He also managed to score a goal this past season against William Floyd.
Unfortunately, this year DiGiacomo and Middle Country didn't fare as well. The team finished with a 4-10 record (4-12 overall) and well out of playoff consideration. But DiGiacomo was hardly to blame. Although his goals-against-average slipped going up nearly two goals to 7.0 in 2009 it was more a total team collapse. They lost their first three games by one-goal margins and never recovered. They eventually would drop their first six games before finally beating Lindenhurst 13-5 on April 23. They finally put everything together in the season finale by beating Brentwood 16-6.
"We lost eight games by one goal throughout the season," DiGiacomo said. "Sloppy play by the team led to the losses. If those one-goal games had been flipped into wins, we would have made the playoffs."
Looking ahead to college, DiGiacomo knows it won't be easy. "I think I'll have to adjust to it," he said. "There will be more school work and early practices. I'm going to have to juggle so many things. I think I'm more excited about learning my major. I think lacrosse is just going to make me more focused."
Beyond college DiGiacomo says he would love to accomplish two things in lacrosse. "If the opportunity arose I'd love to play professional lacrosse," DiGiacomo said. "But the MLL just dropped three teams and hopefully they'll still be around. I would also love to eventually coach a high school lacrosse team. I've been coaching first through fifth graders for the past three years."
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