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06/16/2016 12:00 AMOne of the things that drew Rob LoRicco to lacrosse is the sport’s rich history both within his family and in general. Rob embodied his respect for that tradition while playing for one of Connecticut’s powerhouse programs and racking up several accolades along the way.
Rob, who recently completed his career with Guilford boys’ lacrosse, earned All-SCC Second Team honors as a midfielder in 2014 prior to bumping things up a notch with his First Team selection last year. Rob then switched to attack for his final campaign with the Indians and together they had a campaign to remember. Not only did Rob repeat his First Team All-Conference nod, he also helped Guilford win 12 regular season games and return to the SCC Tournament final, where the Indians gave Fairfield Prep a run for its money in a hard-fought overtime loss. Rob ultimately finished with 64 goals and 33 assists for the season.
“Lacrosse has been in my family. My dad introduced it to me and I wanted to be like him. I also love the history and how far it goes back, plus I like the spirit behind the sport,” says Rob. “It all starts with practice, but I have a strong connection with my teammates on my attack line. My family is also supportive and keeps me going, along with my coaches. Our assistant coach Scott Davidson is a former Major League Lacrosse player and he knows pretty much everything about offense.”
Although he’s shown plenty of prowess in the scoring department, Rob says that he doesn’t really have a preferred hot spot to shoot from. Instead, Rob takes an all-out aggressive approach on each offensive drive.
“The goal itself has a gravitational pull and I think you simply have to get the ball to the center of it,” says Rob. “You have to never stop attacking and keep driving to the goal.”
Head Coach Brian White says that Rob’s desire to succeed both for himself and his team has had a positive influence on the Indians’ future wave of players.
“Robbie has been such a positive for our program. On the field, he constantly was working to improve his skills and was a vocal and positive leader,” says White. “His versatility on the field led to him being a First Team All-SCC midfielder his junior year and, during his senior year, he changed his position to attack and again was named to the First Team All-SCC. His contributions on the field will be greatly missed, but his impact on the program will remain for future players to follow.”
Rob has played in several monumental contests at Guilford, including three SCC finals in four seasons. Rob feels that his mental approach came a long way between the opening and closing whistles of his Indians’ career.
“The big thing with all sports is that your mindset needs to be on point. Up until this year, that was an issue with me, but I feel I got past it,” Rob says. “There have been so many big moments, but I love the big goals in big games. I had never been on a team that beat Joel Barlow, but this year, I scored the game-winning goal [for a 7-6 victory on May 18], which was huge.”
Guilford’s achievements in 2016 will only add to the program’s legacy and Rob points out that there was a close and cohesive group of athletes right at the center of the Indians’ success. Rob feels his experience as a member of the Guilford boys’ lacrosse team is something that will stick with him forever.
“It was a huge year for us in many ways. It was the strongest we’ve been in a while and everyone on the team was so close with each other,” says Rob, who thanks his family, Guilford’s coaches, Tim Kesselring, and teammates. “We accomplished a bunch of things this year and showed how much we had grown over the last few years, but the team gave me some of my best memories.”