Jack Pezzulla's heart and mind will be with his U.S. teammates in Coquitlam, British Columbia when they travel to western Canada to take on the host team July 7 in the opener of the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) Under-19 World Championships.
The recent Boys' Latin graduate, however, will remain close to home now that has given up his position as a traveling alternate goalie for the seven-time defending world champs.
"Initially, I was going to travel within the team," said Pezzulla, who will head to the University of North Carolina in mid-August. "But then I decided not to go. I'm working some camps at BL and looking for a part-time job I can work for six weeks before I head to college."
The 5-foot-9, 180-pound netminder will keep a close eye on what is transpiring during the tournament, although he doesn't expect to be called into action for a U.S. squad that also features future UNC teammate Timmy Kelly (Calvert Hall) and Loyola Blakefield products Ryan Conrad and Alex Roesner.
"I know I have to be ready in case of an emergency," Pezzulla said. "And I have been doing college and U.S. workouts to keep in shape."
Regardless, he finished his high school career at the top of his game, despite the Lakers' 8-5 setback to McDonogh in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship game in late May.
In addition to being only the third Boys' Latin player to earn national U-19 team honors — Bob Griebe (2003) and Dan LaMonica (1999) are the only others to be named — since 1988, Pezzulla had an outstanding senior campaign for first-year coach Brian Farrell.
The three-year starter's 153 saves and 7.6 goals-against average paced a defense that held opponents to eight or less goals in 10 of its final 12 games, including the title game against the Eagles when he totaled eight saves in the defeat.
The Baltimore Sun First Team All-Metro selection's best game, however, came in a 17-save performance against Calvert Hall in a 6-5 Laker victory.
"I really didn't do that much in the game," Pezzulla said, insisting that close defensemen Andrew Murrow, Josh Lurie and Reagan McNemar and a tight zone made his job easier. "My defense really made them take shots from where I could stop them."
Yet the goalie deserves plenty of the credit for making that many stops no matter how well the longsticks operate.
McDonogh coach Andy Hilgartner said that Pezzulla was a formidable foe in the championship game and in a 10-9 double-overtime Eagle win during the regular season.
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"He played great both times against us," the coach said. "He's very strong technically and very dependable. But the thing I really noticed is how well the defense responds to having a guy like that playing behind them. It gives them a lot of confidence. If you're going to play a zone like they do, you have to have a great goalie because he's going to face a lot of shots."
Longtime Boys' Latin goalie coach Tano Arrogancia said that Pezzulla' penchant for doing things his own way paid off.
"Jack is a unique kid," said Arrogancia, who also coaches the goalies for the Major Lacrosse League's Chesapeake Bayhawks. "He does some unorthodox things, like the way he holds his stick. He'll listen to what you tell him sometimes, and then he goes out and does things his way. But I can't argue with him, because he makes most of the saves. Against Calvert Hall, they were getting their hands free to shoot where they wanted to shoot from, but he still made the saves."
Arrogancia added that his goalie's experience and exuberance made Pezzulla a special player.
"Jack was the guy with all the MIAA experience, and that is really important in this league," he said. "And even when we were behind, he was still very enthusiastic about getting his teammates fired up."