Dominic DeLuca and F.J. Braccini have shared many athletic experiences growing up.
They added another on the lacrosse field this season, each surpassing the 100-goal mark late in their junior year at Wyoming Area.
“We’ve been playing sports together since we were in kindergarten,” DeLuca said. “We’ve been competing the whole time, seeing who’s better and just trying to beat out each other.
“For us to score our 100th goals together is pretty awesome, just because we’ve been together for so long.”
They are not alone.
The district finalist Wyoming Area girls team also had a player reach the 100-goal mark.
Cassidy Orzel arrived at the accomplishment as well in the latter stages of the season.
All three players who achieved the milestone are multi-sport athletes. And, more importantly to the growing lacrosse programs, all are juniors.
DeLuca still considers football, where he is a quarterback/defensive back who led the Warriors to an unbeaten regular season, as the primary of his four sports. He has drawn recruiting interest from Lehigh, Buffalo, Villanova and Penn State.
Both Braccini, another two-way football player, and DeLuca double up in the spring. They are throwers on the division champion track and field team. DeLuca had the team’s best finish at the district meet.
On the lacrosse field, they share the captain’s role.
“We try to leave Dominic on the field as much as possible,” Coach Shaun Rohland said of DeLuca, a midfielder who occasionally moves up to the attack line. “He always gets (marked by) the best long-pole middle. Sometimes, they’ll send a D pole up to play him.
“He’s a leader and his play on the field solidifies that.”
Braccini also can play multiple positions. He is usually found on the attack, but he also takes faceoffs at times and has played goalie a few games each of his three seasons.
When he’s called on to stop goals, Braccini can’t score them, but that could not prevent the milestone.
“It was more difficult not having my name called for attack, but I just did what was best for my team to try to help us win,” Braccini said.
Rohland said Braccini has made himself into a scorer.
“Almost like a basketball move, he leans into defenders, then steps back and gets separation,” the coach said. “And, he has probably one of the hardest shots in the area that I have seen.”
Braccini also plays basketball.
After sitting out this winter to get healthy following a long football season, DeLuca plans to return to basketball as a senior. He was a key sub on a district semifinal team as a sophomore.
Orzel, who plays lacrosse for the team coached by Carl DeLuca, Dominic’s father, is also prominent in Wyoming Area athletics in all three sports seasons.
A key player on the state quarterfinalist field hockey team, Orzel was the leader of the basketball team before missing significant time with an injury.
In lacrosse, Orzel scores from her midfield position, is one of the conference’s best at controlling draws and is a factor all over the field both offensively and defensively.
