St. Joe’s men’s lacrosse hasn’t missed a beat this season. This transfer’s ‘tremendous vision’ is a big reason.
It was a long time coming for Richie LaCalandra, but his patience are paying off for the Hawks, whose top three scorers graduated after last season.
Before the start of this season, attackman Richie LaCalandra hadn’t played a full season of college lacrosse since 2022. Now, he’s leading St. Joseph’s with 36 points through 10 games.
“I always knew I’d be back out there sometime,” LaCalandra said. “Getting this year back and being able to play and get out there has been huge for me, and it’s been what I’ve been looking forward to the past two years.”
LaCalandra transferred to Ohio State the offseason before the 2023 season after starting his career at Long Island University and played just four games before getting hurt and hitting the portal again. He started at Long Island in 2020 and was Northeast Conference player of the year in 2021 and 2022.
After transferring to St. Joe’s from Ohio State, LaCalandra needed an NCAA waiver, a waiver he wasn’t granted, to play for the Hawks in 2024.
“We got to spend a year getting [him] into our systems and being a scout team player for us, which was awesome, having someone of his ability on the scout team,” coach Taylor Wray said. “We knew that he was going to be a difference-maker for us this year. It wasn’t really a surprise to our coaches or the returning players on the team. We’re just happy to have him eligible and able to be out there on game.”
Wray, who described LaCalandra as a “dynamic playmaker,” said he’s seen how the graduate student has become more comfortable within the offense in recent games. His teammates have become more comfortable with him, too, which helps the Hawks’ offensive production — and LaCalandra’s point productions as well.
“He’s got tremendous vision,” Wray said. “If guys can get themselves open, Richie can get them the ball, and he’s done a good job of that so far this year.”
LaCalandra’s stats prove that. He leads the team in assists with 17 and is tied for second in goals with 19. LaCalandra partially attributes that success to finally getting to play a full season.
“I didn’t want to look back or say, ‘I should have done this, I should have done that,’ ” LaCalandra said. “Now it’s go time, and now I just got to show the world, and we got to show the world as a team, who St. Joe’s is.”
After the Hawks’ three all-time leading scores in Carter Page, Levi Anderson, and Matt Bohmer graduated at the end of last season, having LaCalandra eligible for this season helped erase some of that loss, Wray said.
“It would have been great to have him last year, but we’re even more fortunate that he’s around this year and playing at the level that he’s playing,” Wray said.
An 11-10 loss to Massachusetts on March 29 snapped a seven-game winning streak for the No. 15 Hawks. Now, 7-3 on the season and 0-1 in Atlantic 10 play, LaCalandra, who tallied four goals against the Minutemen, said St. Joe’s knew the game would be “a dogfight.”
“I think UMass just stole one from us,” LaCalandra said. “It’s a good time to take a loss now in first game of A-10 play and lick the wounds, get the wound healed for down the stretch, for later in April.”
Before the loss to the Minutemen, LaCalandra had at least five points in each of the five previous games. He was A-10 offensive player of the week honors three times in four weeks.
The Hawks will take on St. Bonaventure on Saturday in New York, with LaCalandra four points shy of 200 for his career.
But despite an experience he “wouldn’t trade for the world,” LaCalandra would be willing to deal his accolades for one thing: another A-10 championship.
“At the end of the day, I would trade all those points, all those goals, anything for another A-10 ring, and I think that’s just the main focus,” LaCalandra said. “I’ve had some accomplishments from the outside or whatever, but personally, we haven’t done what we set out to do in the beginning of the season, and that’s win an A-10 conference championship.”