Lacrosse Season Preview

As the Vikings Men’s Lacrosse team prepares to begin their fifth season, they will be looking to continue to build on the young program’s success.  The team features a mix of veterans and newcomers with eleven freshmen and nine sophomores.  Head Coach Rob Siris is looking forward to seeing what this 2023 roster can do after the fall season and spring scrimmages.  “We are very excited for the 2023 season.  We had an excellent fall and spring preseason where we scrimmaged 7 different Division II and Division III teams.  We have experienced players on both offense and defense and we look forward to competing in Region 19.”

The Vikings finished 5-8 in 2022 and lost to Nassau in the Region 19 Semifinals.  Nassau went on to win the NJCAA National Championship. 

On the defensive side of the field, the Vikings will be led by sophomore goalkeeper Thomas Casuccio, the 2022 Region 19 Defensive Player of the Year.  Casuccio led the nation (NJCAA Men’s Lacrosse) in saves last season with 251 saves in 12 games.  He also had the third best save percentage in the country at 61.5%.

Casuccio will be joined by returning defender Clayton Middings (Frenchtown, NJ/Delaware Valley Regional HS) who played all 13 games for the Vikings last season and sophomore defensive midfielder Pete Szpakowski (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert).  Freshman Izzy Miranda (Tampa, FL/Tampa Catholic) will help anchor the defense as the Faceoff Specialist.  In 2021, Miranda won over 100 faceoffs while at Tampa Catholic High School.

Offensively, the Vikings will be led by freshman attacker Jack Kalinowski (Yardley, PA/Pennsbury), a First Team Surburban One Performer while at Pennsbury HS.  Freshman midfielder Braden Travaglini (Berlin, NJ/Eastern Regional HS) scored 20 goals last season for Eastern Regional High School.  Sophomore attacker Luke Vando (Pennsbury) is a transfer from last year’s NJCAA National Champion, Nassau Community College and will reunite with high school teammate Kalinowski.  Sophomore attacker Ryan Grider (Oak Ridge, NJ/Jefferson Township HS) was the Vikings team leader in points last season with 34 and assists with 14 in 13 games.  Grider also finished with 20 goals on the season in 2022.

The Vikings will play 12 games this spring.  The season starts with a road trip in New York, with the season opener on Saturday, March 4 ^th at Hudson Valley CC at 3:00 PM followed by a game at Herkimer on Sunday, March 5 ^th at 12:00 PM.  The Vikings home opener is Saturday, March 11 ^th vs Caroll CC at 1:00 PM.

 Siris will be assisted by David Serughetti.

 Sophomore goalie Tom Casuccio

 Sophomore attacker Ryan Grider

  Sophomore defender Clayton Middings

  Sophomore defensive midfielder Pete Szpakowski