COURTESY PHOTO
Nico Manganiello, a junior at Gordon College, is embracing his role as a captain on the men’s lacrosse team.
By JOSHUA KUMMINS
A new era is underway for the Gordon College men’s lacrosse team.
With 14 new players on the roster after a 1-14 season in 2016, there is no player head coach Warren Shumate wanted to be a leader for his group than Peabody’s Nico Manganiello.
“We have some good seniors on the team who lead as well, but the team knew and I knew that Nico was going to be a captain of this team at some point,” Shumate said. “People just want to be around him.”
Gordon has four captains, with Manganiello the only junior in that group.
A product of Hebron Academy in Maine, Manganiello is off to another great start on the field. He scored five goals in the Fighting Scots’ season-opening win over Maine Maritime and has totaled nine on the season, including two in their most recent contests against Salem State, an 8-6 win, and Mount Ida, a 15-11 loss.
“I’ve been working on my shot the most,” Manganiello said. “I’m definitely trying to take better angle shots and more overhand shots. I think it starts with me being a captain, so if I shoot overhand then everyone else has to. That really helps us get more shots on net as a team, and shots that are harder to stop.”
It may still be early in the season, but Manganiello is already diving head-first into his new leadership role. He was an important player on the field right from the start of his career up in Wenham, combining for 52 goals and 73 points over his first two seasons. He scored 29 goals as a freshman to rank fourth on the team, while finishing last season with 23 slotted him up to third.
The Fighting Scots entered the week and Monday’s game at Becker, their third-to-last contest before Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play, with a 2-2 record.
As Manganiello’s high school career came to an end, Gordon and nearby rival Endicott were atop his list of colleges. Shumate’s mission and the opportunity to play right away while helping to rebuild a program were important considerations.
“I definitely think that experience helped me grow as a player more,” Manganiello said. “I think it does help me play and lead as a junior because I see freshmen come in and us putting a little pressure on them. I can see myself in them since I know what they’re going through, so it makes it easier for me to talk to them.”
On a similar note, there has been a lot of leading to do with last season’s significant roster turnover. Thus, being named a captain as a junior was rewarding and an opportunity that Manganiello wanted.
“I was definitely really excited to be named a captain as a junior,” he said. “I knew it would come with a lot of pressure that I had to take forth, and I like that. I was always told that pressure makes diamonds, so if you were to put me in that situation I think I’d excel more in that situation.”
From an on-field perspective, Shumate agrees that Manganiello’s responsibility has increased with his years. Now that he’s an upperclassman, all the eyes look in his direction.
Improving his shot has led to goals early in the season, but it’s an up-tempo style that makes him most effective with the Scots.
“I always tell guys to enjoy (being a freshman or sophomore) because there’s no pressure,” said Shumate, who returned to guide his alma mater in 2009. “As a junior or senior, the guys around you are really watching. Nico’s had to rein it in a little bit in terms of the type of shot that he’s taking.
“He does a great job pushing tempo and has some guys around him who enjoy playing fast as well.”
Names and notes
- Lynn’s Stephen Basden posted five points and five rebounds in the Endicott College men’s basketball team’s 89-60 loss at No. 6 Middlebury in NCAA Tournament action Friday night. The Gulls conclude the season with a 24-6 record and were the first CCC team to advance to the “Sweet 16” in 21 years.
- More honors rolled in Monday for Lynn’s Marcos Echevarria as the Nichols College sophomore guard was named to the D3hoops.com All-Northeast Region First Team. Echevarria led the CCC in scoring with 23.4 points per game and also averaged four rebounds and 4.4 assists. Additionally, Endicott senior Kamahl Walker was named to the Third Team.
- Saugus’ Mike Vecchione scored on a penalty shot at the 2:46 mark of overtime to lift the Union College hockey team to a come-from-behind, 4-3 win over Princeton Saturday night and into the ECAC semifinals on a seven-game unbeaten streak. Vecchione has 29 goals on the season and points in 10 straight games.
- Endicott’s Mark Veilleux became just the 28th head coach in NCAA Division III softball history to reach the 600-win milestone Sunday as the Gulls swept North Park and Amherst in Leesburg, Fla. Lynn native and St. Mary’s alum Michaela Hamill earned the day’s second win, pitching five innings of four-hit, one-run ball.
- Nahant’s Al Wallach of Framingham State was named Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Pitcher of the Week after striking out nine and allowing just one unearned run on four hits in his first start of the season against Plymouth State last Tuesday.
- Another local native and returning North Shore Navigator earned a Pitcher of the Week nod as Peabody’s Bobby Tramondozzi took home Little East Conference (LEC) honors after factoring into two of UMass Boston‘s first three wins with a win and a save. Tramondozzi struck out four of the seven batters he faced in the Beacons’ 7-6, 11-inning victory over Rowan Saturday, a night after locking down a save against DeSales.
- Lynn native Nick Day hit for the cycle in the Salem State baseball team’s 22-8 win over Aurora on Friday, going 5-for-6 with five RBI, including a three-run home run in the sixth inning. He was named MASCAC Rookie of the Week for the effort. The Vikings pounded out 26 hits to help fellow Lynner Al Donovan to his first win as a collegiate head coach. Danvers’ Dan Connors also went 5-for-6 and scored five times while driving in three.
- Peabody’s Matt Hosman recorded his first hit in just his second at-bat of the season and scored the game-winning run to lift the UMass baseball team ahead of Maine in an eventual 10-6 decision Sunday.
- Lynn’s Cam O’Neill went 2-for-5 and scored a run in the Holy Cross baseball team’s 6-4 win Saturday night at USC. O’Neill leads the Crusaders with nine RBI through 12 games.
- Marblehead’s Maura Grady made a season-high seven saves in the Endicott women’s lacrosse team’s 13-3 loss to No. 20 Colby last Tuesday.
- Peabody’s Courtney Smith scored four goals in the Salem State women’s lacrosse team’s 15-9 loss to Curry last Tuesday. Her six points lead the Vikings through two games.
- Following six seasons at Daniel Webster College, Matt Correia was named the Salem State men’s soccer team’s new head coach, effective Aug. 1. Correia’s DWC teams won three straight conference titles and a total of 70 games, including the program’s first NCAA Tournament win in 2016.