Over the weekend, Back Of The CAGE caught up with the four-time Varsity Starter and the reigning Suffolk County Division 2 Defenseman Player of the Year at Harborfields High School, Nick Caccamo, for our Senior Spotlight series interviewing a new senior each week. Nick took time out of his busy schedule for fans to get to know Nick on a more personal level and as a lacrosse player.
The Yale signee has been the backbone of the defense for the past 2 seasons helping Harborfields to make history winning back-to-back county championships. With Nick's solid play, he earned the above accolades on top of 2nd Team All Long Island by Newsday, 6th Team All State, Honorable Mention All Long Island by BOTC and All-County all in 2019.
Being the #1 ranked defenseman by BOTC, Nick is also an offensive threat contributing 19 points in last years Long Island Championship run. Although many players would be happy with the fact that they are a 2x Suffolk Champion, the loss to in Long Island Championship game still irks the top ranked defenseman and 47th overall senior across North American by Inside Lacrosse but he has taken that loss as a learning experience, to show him and his teammates on what they need to improve on to make more history by bringing home the 1st Long Island Championship title to Harborfields and with Nick anchoring the defense, the Tornadoes are in good hands.
Q&A with Nick Caccamo: Back Of The CAGE (BOTC): This year, your team has a chance at a “three-peat” in winning the Suffolk Class B Championship for the third straight season in which you have served as the backbone of the defense. How does it feel to be a 2x champion and the opportunity to be a potential 3x champion?Nick Caccamo (NC): Winning counties the last two years was an awesome experience and was big for our school. Our lacrosse program struggled to win a county championship for the past 25 years or so. When we won it in my sophomore year, our whole community got involved and showed us their support. Winning it the following year made people realize we have a legit program and that we could do some damage. This next year is a big one for us, and we realize that a potential three peat would be something very few schools do.
BOTC: As mentioned above, you are a Suffolk County Champion, however, your Tornadoes unfortunately fell short in the Long Island Championship last season against Manhasset. How much of that loss has fueled the team and your off season training and what are the expectations for this season?NC: The loss to Manhasset was definitely a tough one to get over, but we all looked at it as a learning experience. Playing against such a great team made us realize that we have a lot more work to do if we want to take our success to another level. A bunch of us go to the fields and practice everyday, and work on little things that will get us ready for the season. We’re trying to build as much chemistry as possible to make things go smoother during the season. We feel like we have a great group of guys who all got a lot of experience from last season. Our goal this season is to win counties again and be the first Harborfields lacrosse team to win the Long Island championship
BOTC: Your commitment story is quite interesting and a bold choice, ultimately betting on yourself when most players would’ve “secured” a commitment. Can you elaborate more on that for our readers and why you eventually chose Yale University? NC: When I was looking at schools, it came down to making some tough decisions. In the end I chose Yale because I believed they had the most to offer on and off the field. The lacrosse program is one of the best in the country and is always competing for a championship, which is something that I want to be able to contribute towards. The coaching staff is awesome, and they really like my style of play and feel that I will fit in with the program very well. Coach Shay reminded me a lot of my club coach, Joe Spallina, who’s helped me so much throughout the years. So I feel that me and him will get along really well. I also felt I would be getting an amazing degree that would help benefit me once my lacrosse career is over.
BOTC: What is your most memorable moment thus far? NC: My most memorable moment of my varsity career comes from my sophomore year in the county championship. We were up 6-4 with about 6 minutes left and we were man down. Our goalie made a great save and cleared it out to me, then I ran down and passed it to our point guy and he scored a sick goal. This was kind of the moment where we knew we were gonna win, so our bench and fans were going nuts. It was our first county chip in 26 years, so to be apart of that was unforgettable.
BOTC: What is your favorite quote or saying from Coach Glenn Lavey?NC: Coach Laevy is a pretty funny guy because you never know what he’s gonna say or do. One minute he’ll be yelling at us or trying to teach us how to run a play, and then another minute he’ll be singing Let It Go from the movie Frozen. He keeps us on our toes every practice.
BOTC: Are you superstitious and do you have any pregame rituals? NC: Ever since I was young me and my dad had this thing where right before the opening face off, he’d point to me and I’d point back to signal me to get going.
BOTC: What’s on your playlist before games?NC: We listen to the Umass team playlist, so it throws in a bit of everything. Some hype songs and some Rap songs. Then when it’s close to game time we’ll start to bump some Slav music to get the juices flowing
More info about Nicholas Caccamo: A 2x NLF National Champion, #9 Ranked Senior on Long Island by BOTC & 151 GB's in 2019. Check back in a week to meet Jenny Markey from Mount Sinai High School. Contributed by: Tom Michaelsen
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