By Dylan Smith, Staff writer
Amidst the pre-game yelling and banging, there stands a senior captain eyeing his orange number five jersey reminding himself why he’s there. It’s the words, “we didn’t really know what we were going to get with you,” from Men’s lacrosse coach Stewart Moan that sticks with him as he prepares for the showdown.
Andrew Porzio is a senior midfielder for the River Hawks, who posted 89 points over two and a half seasons. His love for the game started at a young age.
“I was in third or fourth grade and my mom signed me up because she knew I didn’t love baseball and didn’t want to play basketball,” Porzio said. “After the first day [of lacrosse], it just clicked.”
Day in and day out through middle school and high school, number five would practice every day. He would run to his backyard after school and practice until team practices later in the evening. Porzio would watch YouTube videos and immediately go outside and recreate moves and motions from Division I lacrosse players. “My mom would say, ‘oh out there living the dream again?’” and he replied “absolutely.”
Living the dream is fitting for a guy who is the first one on the field and the last one off. “He gives everything one-hundred percent” girlfriend Alyssa Bolger said. “He is constantly working on correcting his craft whether it’s on the field or off. He gets up early to work on class and always getting a step ahead.” That mentality has stemmed from his cousin.
His cousin had a serious football injury that paralyzed his right arm. But in Porzio’s sophomore year, he got to play alongside his cousin who played with one arm. In a crosstown rivalry matchup between his high school, Red Bank Catholic, and Red Bank Regional, Porzio assisted on two goals that were scored by his cousin. “It was a special moment for me because he continues to inspire me and it is something that I will never forget.”
Porzio has had a fair share of motivation in his life but freshman year was a reality check for him. Being a business major in his first semester, he struggled with understanding his classwork, causing him to miss his first season.
“College isn’t a joke and you can’t treat it like high school where you can study the night before,” Porzio said.
He changed his major to Sports Media afterwards. He has been a part of multiple broadcasts for football and basketball as play-by-play and color analysts, plus working as an on-air analyst for WQSU’s SU Sports Corner. In his sophomore year, Coach Moan said to him, “we didn’t really know what we were going to get with you,” but Porzio gained the respect of the players and coaches and became a senior captain.
“In order to succeed you have to fail, so I take each failure or hard time as a learning experience,” Porzio said.
