Marrocco stops doubters
Ex-Duxbury star shines for Cannons
Nick Marrocco always has had confidence in himself, but when the 2018 Major League Lacrosse draft ended last April, no one had called his name.
Despite a strong college career at Georgetown, the goalie had to wait to realize his dream of playing professional lacrosse. And he wasn’t thrilled about it.
“Not going to lie, I was pretty (ticked) off,” Marrocco said.
But being doubted was nothing new for Marrocco.
Marrocco was a standout at Duxbury High, but an injury impacted his recruitment and he didn’t get a lot of offers. Georgetown ultimately came along, though, and he starred for the Hoyas. Marrocco graduated as the NCAA’s active career leader in saves.
But when the MLL Draft came, he still didn’t get picked. Marrocco had to prove people wrong again.
“I definitely have a chip on my shoulder because I know how good I was and how good I could be,” Marrocco said. “There are certain people who see that in you and certain people who overlook you. That’s just how life works, but it definitely pushed me to be better.”
The person who ultimately saw that in Marrocco was Sean Quirk, the coach of the Cannons. Soon after the draft, Quirk called Marrocco and the Cannons acquired the goalie from the MLL player pool.
It’s turned out to be a perfect match.
Marrocco played in only four games in his rookie year, but when training camp began ahead of the 2019 season, he asserted himself. Not only did he win the job to become the Cannons’ new starting goalie, he also was named team captain, a rarity for a secondyear player, especially with the amount of veterans on the roster.
It became an easy decision for the coaching staff after watching Marrocco in camp. Marrocco said he personally was trying to step up more as a leader, and it showed practice after practice.
“Obviously when it’s 70 and sunny out, everything’s great and it’s easy to be a leader at those times,” Quirk said. “I think during training camp, when there were some struggles and tough moments, that’s when Nick was just super positive and he rallied the guys and he got them going. We thought, ‘Hey, every game we’re not going to be up by four or five goals. What’s going to happen when we’re down four or five goals, how is he going to respond and how are his teammates going to respond?’
“We’ve had those moments throughout the season where we’ve been down multiple goals at times in every game, and we fought back, we stayed together, we stayed positive, and that’s been a real big charge from the defense, starting with Nick.”
With seven games left in the regular season, the Cannons (6-3) are in a three-way tie for first place in the MLL heading into today’s home game against the Atlanta Blaze (5 p.m., Veterans Memorial Stadium in Quincy). Marrocco, who was one of eight Cannons to be named an all-star, has been invaluable to their success.
Marrocco carries that chip with him on the field. He likes to chirp at his opponents and admittedly talks some smack. While he never crosses the line with it, it certainly sparks his teammates.
“He’s got a really confident edge to him, and I think that’s the best way to put it,” Quirk said. “He’s not cocky, he’s not arrogant, he’s not disrespectful to his opponent, but he’s got an edge to him that’s so competitive. Yeah, he’ll chirp a little bit, and I think that gets him fired up, it gets his teammates fired up. … It gives our team an edge.”
That underdog mentality never quits, either. Even though he was named an MLL All-Star, he seems to never be satisfied no matter how much success comes his way.
“He remembers where his roots are from and how hard he has to keep working,” Quirk said. “He just wants to be the best. He literally wants to be the best goalie in the world, and I think he has that ability to do that because of that edge and that underdog feeling.”
And he’s on a mission to show Quirk was right in believing in him.
“For him to give me that opportunity, I am in a sense playing for him a little bit, too,” Marrocco said. “I trust him and I’m like, ‘All right, this guy gave me a chance so I’m going to prove him right and prove everyone else in the league wrong.’ ”