Native sons
Bartolo of Norwalk, Jacoby of Glastonbury lead Rutgers into Final Four
Soon after Mitch Bartolo and Ronan Jacoby arrived at Rutgers last summer and realized the striking similarity of their circumstances and that of those around them, they joked about what a disaster the ensuing year had the potential to become.
They were strangers and roommates, joining a new university and new lacrosse program together, both in the same master’s program — just like their two other roommates, and just like a neighbor — making for a handful of first-year players walking the same unknown path into 2021-22.
“We’re in all the same classes, obviously all the same practices, and we’re going to spend every second of every day with each other,” Jacoby said. “We were like, ‘This could end so poorly.’ ”
It is ending in East Hartford, in pursuit of the pot of gold under the lacrosse rainbow this Memorial Day weekend.
Rutgers is in the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Final Four for the first time in program history, set to face Cornell in a national semifinal Saturday at Rentschler Field. Maryland and Princeton face each other in Saturday’s other semifinal, and the national championship game is Monday.
Bartolo, of Norwalk, and Jacoby, of Glastonbury, have been key to the Scarlet Knights’ success. Their previous college experiences disrupted by the pandemic and the first leg of their coursework completed, both transferred to Rutgers — Bartolo from Penn and Jacoby from Wesleyan, where he won a Division III national championship as a freshman in 2018.
“I think we’re pretty loose,” said Bartolo, who spent three years at McMahon High before reclassifying and graduating from The Hotchkiss School in Salisbury in 2017. “I think we’re grateful. That’s what it comes down to. We’re grateful and we’re confident. We’ve been in big games before. Obviously,
these are the biggest games that come with this sport, but we’ve been in big games and performed when we had to and we’re confident in what we can do. This is a dream come true for a little kid.”
Bartolo, who plays attack, has 43 goals and 17 assists for 60 points, second on the team to Scott Ross (49-23-72). Jacoby, a midfielder, is tied for third with 47 points (36 goals and 11 assists).
Rutgers is 15-3. Two of the losses came to Maryland, in the regular season and the Big Ten championship game. The Scarlet Knights defeated Harvard and Penn — Bartolo’s former team — to reach the Final Four, being held at Rentschler for the second year in a row.
“It’s a dream come true either way,” Bartolo said. “But to have it an hour away from my hometown is something I’m really grateful for.”
Jacoby is very familiar with Rentschler Field, having attended UConn football games. He also played some youth lacrosse and baseball games at the stadium.
“I think it was my sophomore year that they announced ’21 and ’22 was going to be in East Hartford,” Jacoby said. “My goal was to get there my senior year at Wesleyan. Obviously it didn’t come to fruition. Having the opportunity to get back and play so close to home is special.
“To play a championship game, something I’ve been dreaming about my entire
life, 10 minutes from where I grew up and the back yard where I put in all the hours is just unbelievably cool. I’m hoping the Glastonbury lacrosse (community) represents well and wears a bunch red shirts with the block R on the front.”
Jacoby has experience in this type of setting — the best kind. He was the NESCAC rookie of the year and the conference’s leading scorer as a freshman, helping Wesleyan to its championship at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. Jacoby played 48 games in four seasons for Wesleyan, with 2020 and 2021 cut to a combined eight games due to the pandemic, and had 150 goals and 28 assists.
Jacoby was a Division III All-American, and Wesleyan team captain, in 2020 and 2021, the team’s leading scorer each of his final three seasons. He wanted another a different academic platform, though, and a new lacrosse challenge.
“Not many people make
that jump from D-III,” he said. “I felt pretty confident that I could be an important player on a good Division I team.”
Jacoby remains close with Wesleyan players, many of their conversations ending with “Still national champions.”
“That has got to be, so far, the best day of my life,” he said of winning in 2018. “Something no one can ever take away. It’s one of the reasons I want it so badly here, because it makes it so easy to have a connection with everyone.
“If we’re lucky enough to walk out of Memorial Day weekend with two wins, it’s something the school is going to hold as really important to them, with tons of events. It’s going to be a cool experience for the rest of my life.”
Bartolo, who graduated from Penn with an economics degree, wanted to continue his college lacrosse career, too. His four-year Penn experience was limited to just 27 games, just four over 2020-2021. He had 20 goals and nine assists with the Quakers.
“Obviously the last couple of years were taken away and I didn’t want that to be the end,” Bartolo said. “I’m very happy where I ended up. All these transfers and they’re immediately part of the family. I have 50 new best friends.”
Bartolo and Jacoby both enrolled in the Rutgers’ financial analysis master’s program. So did their new roommates — Toby Burgdorf, a Westfield, N.J., native who transferred from Providence, and Bryant Boswell, a Bucknell transfer from Frederick, Md. Sam Stephan, a Millstone, N.J., native who lives in another building but spends virtually all his time with the group, chose the same program upon transferring from Bucknell.
These players have helped push Rutgers over the hump. The Scarlet Knights have a program record for victories, surpassing the previous high of 11. They have defeated six ranked teams, also a record. They are the first Rutgers men’s team to reach a Final Four since soccer in 1994.
“We’re thick as thieves, all five of us,” Jacoby said. “Spending every hour together is nothing but joy. … Now it’s a balance between appreciating what we’ve done so far and enjoying this last week together and still remaining hungry and competing to get a little bit better every day in practice in hopes of Monday walking out of there throwing our helmets up in the air.”