Froccaro '13 stars in matchup with Syracuse, but Princeton falls short

By Hillary Dodyk ’15

Jeff Froccaro '13 (Photo: Beverly Schaefer)

Jeff Froccaro ’13 has led the men’s lacrosse team to its first top-10 ranking since the 2010 season, and the senior attackman had another strong game against rival Syracuse April 6, scoring four of Princeton’s 12 goals, including two in the fourth quarter, and assisting on two other scores. But the Orange spoiled that performance with a fourth-quarter rally, edging the Tigers 13-12.

For Froccaro, a Long Island, N.Y. native, playing lacrosse was a family tradition. He made the switch from baseball to lacrosse in seventh grade, following the path of two uncles who played professionally and introduced him to the game.

He seems to have made the right choice, earning All-Ivy first team honors as a junior and Ivy League Player of the Week honors three times in his career, most recently after he became only the 27th player in the program’s history to reach 100 career points.

“Jeff’s one of the best attackmen in the country and definitely in the Ivy League [and] he has a good effect on the offense. He can calm things down and he’s obviously a really good scorer,” fellow attackman Mike MacDonald ’15 said. “Jeff draws a lot of attention on offense, he usually draws the number one defender from the other team, so he opens up chances for me and Ryan [Ambler ’16].” 

Even with his family history, Froccaro said that playing college lacrosse was not something he thought seriously about until he started getting calls from recruiters as a sophomore in high school. Then it became an opportunity too great to be ignored, especially when Princeton called.

“Choosing Princeton was one of the easiest decisions I made in my entire life,” he said. “The combination of great academics as well as athletics made it overtly appealing.  It’s also relatively close to my home so it's nice being able to go home on weekends if I want.”

Brother Jake ’16 agreed with decision, joining the team to play alongside his brother this year. The Froccaro brothers are currently one of three brother duos on the Tiger roster.

When he is not pursuing achievements in the classroom or on the field, Jeff is a self-proclaimed movie buff. He claims to have seen almost every mainstream movie, as well as a considerable number of foreign and indie films; favorites include Love Actually and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. His extensive use of obscure quotes has become a source of jokes among teammates.

At game time, though, Froccaro exudes concentration. He tries not to focus too much on the opponent, paying more attention to mentally and physically preparing himself for the match-up.

“Some people like to know the ins and outs of their opponents, but I've always believed that if you're perfect in your own collective and personal execution its hard for any teams to beat you,” he said.

Quick takes

MEN’S and WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD were both in action this weekend. For the women, freshman Julia Ratcliffe broke her own Ivy League record in the hammer throw at the Sam Howell Memorial Invitational. She threw the hammer 66.69 meters, giving her the third-best throw in the NCAA this year and the best throw in the East. The mark was nearly three meters better than her previous personal best and almost five meters beyond the Ivy record prior to this season (61.85 meters). For the men, junior Tom Hopkins led the Tigers with three top-three finishes. Hopkins earned first place in the long jump, reaching 7.25 meters; second in the 4-by-100 relay with teammates freshmen Dre Nelson and John Hill and sophomore Daniel McCord after running a 41.40; and a third place finish in the 200 with a 21.75.

No. 12 WOMEN’S WATER POLO swept divisional rivals Mercyhurst and Harvard in addition to outscoring Bucknell to claim the Southern Division regular-season title for the second consecutive season. The Tigers beat Mercyhurst 13-1 and Harvard 17-9 on Saturday before defeating Bucknell 14-5 on Sunday to improve to 20-5 overall and conclude the regular season with a perfect 5-0 mark in divisional play.

After dropping a close match to Harvard April 5, MEN’S VOLLEYBALL rallied to sweep Sacred Heart and pick up their ninth EIVA victory April 6. Sophomore Cody Kessel recorded 10 kills, four blocks, and two digs in the victory and 14 kills and 12 digs in Friday’s loss after being sidelined for almost a month due to injury. Senior captain Michael Dye added seven kills and three blocks in the win.