More than luck of the draw: La Salle's Anthony DiCenso is a force in the faceoff circle
It is in the biggest moments that Anthony DiCenso is the calmest.
Whether it’s the first faceoff of an early regular-season game or late in the RIIL boys lacrosse State Championship game, La Salle's DiCenso keeps a clear head. He has to. He has a faceoff to win.
You would think a position that, to the amateur eye, looks like two bucks battling for dominance, that you would want to have your adrenaline pumping, heart ready to explode. But that’s not the case. And that’s what makes DiCenso so good.
“I just always want to win every single faceoff,” DiCenso said. “It’s possible, but I feel like sometimes you can get in your own head. It’s more a mental game than physical.”
On Sunday, DiCenso will put his mental and physical skills to the ultimate test. The Rams are to play Moses Brown at 4 p.m. at Cranston Stadium in the RIIL State Championship game for the seventh straight season. It's likely DiCenso won’t score a goal and won’t make a save, but make no mistake about it — he might be the most important player on the field.
“I would think for Anthony DiCenso to have a good game,” Rams coach Steven O’Donnell said, “it’s pretty important to La Salle Academy.”
The FOGO — that’s face-off, get-off — has a simple job. Get possession of the ball.
From the stands, it looks simple. It appears to be a battle of strength, like a duel from medieval times or a rugby scrum, with players pushing and shoving as they try to control the ball. It’s not. Brute strength is great, but to win draws, you need perfect technique, hand-eye coordination and the ability to stay calm in those brief seconds before the referee gives the OK for players to draw.
DiCenso was intrigued by the position as soon as he started playing the sport. There was something unique about it. Wearing equipment, lacrosse players can start looking alike and you can really hide on a field. There’s no hiding on the faceoff and, for those few seconds, all eyes are on you. DiCenso liked that feeling.
When he got to La Salle, he worked at his craft and was helped along by All-Stater Max Tetreault. After having his sophomore season wiped out by COVID, DiCenso won the starting FOGO job in his junior year.
He wasn’t just good at the position. He was great at it.
“He was 90 percent — lights out,” O’Donnell said. “We played only 11 games because of COVID and he dominated. He was in the 90s, which is unheard of.”
How does he do it?
After hours of practicing at camps, with trainers, at team practices and at home alone, his technique was flawless. DiCenso says he does at least 50 draws a day on his own. Tendinitis can get in the way of practicing, but DiCenso says the reps are necessary to stay sharp.
When DiCensco lines up for the draw, his right foot points toward the ball with his left foot along midfield near the butt end of his stick. He keeps his left arm on the butt end, knuckles to the ground, and twists back his right wrist to roll it over the ball with a resounding snap.
That technique plays fine, but when you’re going up against equally talented FOGOs, you need something extra.
For DiCenso, it’s all in his head. His ability to stay calm allows him to roll over the ball fractions of a second faster than his opponent, and that matters. He listens to officials' cadences — some pause before blowing the whistle, others don’t. His goal is to clamp the ball the instant the official blows the first portion of his first breath into the whistle.
From there, his strength comes into play.
“It’s a clamp. You drive both hands through the ball and over it,” DiCenso said. “It’s all about leverage and staying low.”
Possession is everything in lacrosse. If you have it, you can score. If you don’t, you’re not going to. That’s why a good FOGO is so valuable. Someone like DiCenso who’s winning at a 90-percent clip?
“Just think of it like basketball. If you do a jump ball after every basket and you get the ball every time and you score and then you get it back?” O’Donnell said. “Not saying we score every time, but controlling possession in lacrosse at every level is key to success. Every team, including ours, has not done well on faceoffs and sometimes you’ll still win.
“But possessing the ball, those percentages are in your favor to win games because you have the ball.”
Last year’s state championship game was the shining example of the importance of the position.
Moses Brown was leading, 8-5, with 4:15 left and looked ready to win its first state title since 2010. With 2:45 left, La Salle’s Dylan Johnson scored to make it 8-6. Then DiCenso took over.
He won the ensuing draw and raced upfield and scored. FOGOs don’t score often; it’s like a defensive lineman going for a scoop-and-score for football.
“It’s a backbreaker if a FOGO runs down and scores within 10 seconds. It’s all it is,” DiCenso said. “You can score within 10 seconds and, hopefully, win it again and get the offense going again.”
DiCenso won the next draw and with 1:44 left, Johnson scored to tie the game. DiCenso won the next draw, La Salle ran down the clock, and with eight seconds left, Colby Frigon scored the game-winning goal. DiCenso sealed the win by making sure Moses Brown didn’t win that final draw — ball game.
“The higher caliber of the game,” O’Donnell said, “the more he’s laser-focused.”
DiCenso doesn’t feel his position is more important than anyone else on the team. He’s not usually the one scoring goals, he’s not a defender who's marking a star on the other side or a goalie making saves.
“There are much more important roles than me,” DiCenso said. “All I do is come up with possessions. It’s just a job.”
“I don’t want to put any pressure on one person but possession for any team matters,” O’Donnell said. “If Anthony is the person that does that, it’s pretty crucial to us.”
DiCenso is taking his skills to the University of Richmond, where he’ll play next fall. But there’s one more game left to play this season for La Salle and it’s a big one. The Rams are going for their 10th straight state title and that the opponent is Moses Brown, again, makes it even more fun.
When the teams take the field, DiCenso will be ready. It’ll be noisy at Cranston Stadium, but he won’t hear the noise when he takes the first faceoff. For DiCenso, it’ll be like he’s in a quiet room, practicing alone. Silence.
Right until that whistle blows — and he couldn’t be more ready.
“I’m not really nervous at all. I just go in level-headed,” DiCenso said. “Every faceoff I’ll take one at a time, but I go in thinking I’m going to win every single one and, hopefully, I’m going to win every single one."
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Anthony DiCenso comes through almost every time for La Salle lacrosse
