Hastings Athlete Experiences a Change of Heart

At the start of his senior year at Hastings High School, football/lacrosse standout Luke D'Alessandro and Middlebury College seemed like a done deal.

 D'Alessandro was instantly sold on the scenic Vermont campus, which is located near some of the avid snowboarder's favorite ski mountains and snow parks.

A top-notch education, the opportunity to prolong his career in both football and lacrosse, as well as a beefed-up financial aid package also were enticing to D'Alessandro, the all-time leading scorer in Hastings lacrosse history with 168 goals.

D'Alessandro, who also played running back under Joe Vaccaro at Hastings, passionately wanted to pursue both sports. And so Middlebury made D'Alessandro's decision all the more simple. Or so he thought...

This spring, the silky-smooth southpaw's Division-I lacrosse stock heightened.

In the process, D'Alessandro found lacrosse to be his true labor of love. The senior deposited 43 goals, doled out 10 assists, and scooped up 53 groundballs, leading Hastings in nearly every category. 

 D'Alessandro began receiving interest from Wagner and Siena. Siena coach Brian Brecht, a major local presence who has landed several highly-touted recruits from the Westchester lacrosse landscape, expressed interest in the highly-skilled senior.

 Then, at the last minute, Sacred Heart University in Connecticut became involved. Though they relied solely on statistics and game video--without traveling to see a Hastings game--the coaching staff at SHU were sold on D'Alessandro.

Attracted by the proximity of the school and the chance to play in such a competitive environment, D'Alessandro was deciding among Sacred Heart and a slew of other high-caliber Division II and Division III schools.

 "I was recruited by some D-3 schools like Connecticut College, Western New England, Middlebury, and a few top two D-2 schools like C.W. Post and Mars Hill," D'Alessandro explained.

"Sacred Heart actually recruited me pretty late in the game. [Coach Tom Mariano] and I spoke via email. I sent some film of myself playing. And then, he sent me a bunch of medical forms to fill out."

 It was decided, as the versatile All-Section attack inked his John Hancock.

By signing with Sacred Heart, D'Alessando becomes Hastings High School's first-ever Division-I lacrosse player.

Playing for the established Renegades on the travel team circuit, heading to northern Westchester to face some stiffer competition in the summer leagues, and battling against kids from the lacrosse hotbed of Long Island helped D'Alessandro skyrocket to small-school success.

 This experience allowed D'Alessandro to get a feel for the game and incorporate that wisdom into the burgeoning program at Hastings. From the get-go, Hastings lacrosse coach Drew Wendol wanted his senior captain to take on some ownership of the Yellow Jackets.  

"Luke is a leader out there; he does that on and off the field," Wendol, himself an impressive scorer for SUNY-Cortland's team in the early 1990s, said. "He plays on some elite team sas well--he doesn't just pick up a lacrosse stick in the spring."

D'Alessandro is a workhorse who bulldozed through double-teams and stuffed the stat books. His innate prowess with the net catapulted him into Westchester's upper-echelon.

So, not surprisingly,  while D'Alessandro stuffed the stat sheets, the United States Postal Service stuffed his mailbox with numerous packages from NCAA lacrosse coaches.

 "He just battles through people,"Wendol said. "He just works hard, he pushes it. If you need him to score, he's going to do whatever it takes to get it done."

Wendol acknowledges the jump from high school to the Division I ranks is an arduous leap, but he believes D'Alessandro has the essential attributes to make an impact on the Sacred Heart Pioneer's team which graduated four of their top five leading scorers in 2010.

 "I think he's going to have to play some midfield there,"Wendol said. "He will have to have to learn a lot; he'll be going up against bigger, stronger players and that's where you really have to pick up your game."