Long Island boys lacrosse Q&A: What’s it like to play goalie?

There’s more that goes into being a successful boys lacrosse goalie than meets the eye.

Saving a shot is hard enough, but try adding in effective communication while correctly positioning yourself amid a sea of bodies all before launching a fast break for a team’s transition offense. Good goalies can do one or two well, but the best of the best juggle it all and then some.

But how do they do it? Here’s what the six goalies from Newsday’s Top 100 list have to say.

What do you think took your game from good to great?

Smithtown East senior Brendan Carroll: “Just putting in the work in the offseason, getting shots and stuff. My brother [Owen Carroll] is three years older than me. He and his friends are all great lacrosse players and will shoot on me sometimes. Me and some buddies on the team go out, shoot and get shot on. I think that’s a big part.”

Massapequa senior Michael Jannotte: “It’s really my discipline and willingness to get out there every day to get better. I watched the top guys, the D-I Syracuse and Johns Hopkins goalies, I try to mimic them.”

Half Hollow Hills senior Sal Santoro: “Hills goalie coach [Mike] Rimmer helps me every day. He makes me focus all the time. [Playing] goalie is a very physical type of game, but it’s also mental.”

Rocky Point junior D.J. Xavier: “Playing against the top recruits on the Island, especially in Suffolk County which is one of the hardest divisions in the nation.” 

The shot clock is a new addition to New York high school lacrosse. What do you think of it, and how does it impact the way you approach a game?

Carroll: “I think we can use it as an advantage for us to push the game faster and move it to our pace, and not slow it down too much like other teams like to.”

Jannotte: “I feel like we have to be ready at all times for anything. These shooters, they want to shoot. They’re timed now so they don’t have all the time to pass it around . . . The defense has to be ready to slide. Overall it’ll just be much faster and we’ll have to communicate more.”

Carey senior Richie Metzger: “It’s not a bad thing, it’s not a good thing. I like it and I’m ready for it. I think it’s good how it makes us almost adapt to the college game . . . I’m a fan of it, it’ll make the game move quicker.”

Santoro: “We’re going to have to have a call when the shot clock is almost over, because we know they’re going to look to shoot.”

East Islip senior Drew Walendowski: “I know that each team is going to give me a lot more looks than I usually had last year. I’m excited to be able to tackle that.”

Xavier: “I think the shot clock is just going to help the game go faster. The offense can’t just hold the ball, and we have to play more strategic defense just to hold them out.”

Plenty of athletes have nicknames and routines, but lacrosse goalies seem to have more than most. Do you have any pregame rituals?

Metzger: “I’m different, I like to listen to a little country before a game. My favorite song has to be Barefoot Blue Jean Night by Jake Owen, it’s just a song I’ve been listening to forever. One of my dad’s favorites.”

Carroll: “Usually I take a nap before the game. I warm up every time from the same person, (junior attackman) Cameron James. He’s the best shooter on our team and the best shooter probably in the whole county. It’s good to have someone like that to warm me up.”

Jannotte: “I like to get a carb-load the day before a game and when gameday comes, I like to eat clean. I always have two eggs and avocado and drink a lot of water.”

Walendowski: “Every game, if I get to go home first, I take a cold shower and get the blood flowing.”

What about nicknames?

Jannotte: “[Teammate Matthew Pettis] will call me ‘JaDotie’ when I throw good passes. ‘JaNot’ is a big one. I don’t think some of [my teammates] know my first name.”

Walendowski: “My buddies have been calling me Chip for a while now. That’s completely not lacrosse related, but it’s carried onto the field.”

Santoro: “I’m Italian. My coaches make fun of it a bit, like ‘Yo SallyMarinara.’ They roll with it and I love it. Coach [Connor] Hagans now calls me ‘SallyMutz,’ like mozzarella.”

What advice do you have for goalies who want to take the next step?

Carroll: “Stay training and never put the stick down for too long. You’ve got to give yourself a break, but the goalies on the next level are always putting in the work … When you get down on yourself, that’s when your game starts to go down too.

Xavier: “Put in the work, listen to your coaches. Don’t just go through the motions.”

Santoro: “There’s going to be people that doubt you, that say you’re not good enough. Just put your head down and keep working every single day, because you don’t know who’s watching. You have to work hard when no one’s watching.”

Jannotte: “Work on the little things. I think that can really separate you from other people. Communication, getting ground balls; it’s not all about the saves, it’s about the footwork and all the little things that add up when the game comes around.”

Metzger: “Control what you can control and work on what you need to work on. A lot of times younger goalies — myself included — can save the ball really well, but the mental side and losing your cool, you have to control what you can control. Have a short memory and make the next play.”

Walendowski: “Don’t compare yourself to others. People say comparison is the thief of joy, and I fully agree with that. You start to talk yourself out of things, telling yourself you have no shot, and none of that’s true.”