By Molly Tow
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 8/15/11
Southern Lehigh rising senior defenseman Nick Masciantonio has made a verbal commitment to play Division I lacrosse at Rutgers University.
Masciantonio helped Southern Lehigh finish 7-8 in 2011. He plays club lacrosse for Twist Lacrosse and was named in the Top 20 players at the Baltimore KO tournament.
“One of my biggest reasons for choosing Rutgers was that it offers such a variety of majors,” said Masciantonio. “At the moment I’m still undecided in the exact direction I want to go with my major, and I feel Rutgers offers the most versatility.
“Another reason I chose Rutgers was I really feel like their lacrosse program has the potential to explode into the role of another Big East powerhouse, and I believe that [head] coach [Brian] Brecht is the one to make it happen.”
Masciantonio is the first in the area to commit to Rutgers. He will join the Scarlet Knights during a period of growth, as they recently named Brecht as the new head coach. Brecht, who has 16 years of collegiate coaching experience and previously coached at Siena University, was a three-time MAAC Coach of the Year at Siena.
Masciantonio has high hopes for the coming season, and feels that development in 2012 will be key to Southern Lehigh’s success in the future.
“We lost a lot of our senior leaders last year, and the upcoming seniors are going to have to fill those shoes,” said Masciantonio. We will also need a lot of upperclassman to step up.”
“I think a big goal will be trying to develop the younger or more inexperienced players so that we can get them on the field and really start to build the program.”
