INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM Alex Palmisano '07 shares his love for lacrosse

Author: Zamir Ahmed, Sports Editor

Palmisano currently has a .581 save percentage and a 7.03 goals-against-average for the men's lacrosse team.

The Campus: When did you first start lacrosse?

Alex Palmisano: Uh, I started out in fifth grade, town team, just kinda playing with my brother. My older brother was playing so I kinda looked up to him a little bit when I was younger and it looked like a cool sport, figured I'd check it out.

TC: Why did you choose Middlebury?

AP: There are a number of reasons. One, obviously, the sports had a lot to do with it. Talking to the coaches, they had plenty of interest in me. But also I'm sort of from New England and I like to ski a lot and when I met with Coach Quinn he told me that he likes his players to get out, ski in the wintertime, enjoy themselves up here. It was probably the only school I looked at where the coach said you could ski and enjoy yourself, so that had a lot to do with it.

TC: What do you love most about lacrosse?

AP: I don't know. Probably just the competition, being on a team, playing games, winning. Just kind of enjoying the whole experience with everyone else.

TC: What do you love the least?

AP: [Laughs] Probably losing. Um, but other than that…Yeah, I'd say losing.

TC: Why is Middlebury so good in lacrosse?

AP: I'd say because Coach Quinn does a good job of getting not only good players but the right players that mesh well with each other. You know, we're always regarded as being one of the deeper teams in Division III, most likely just because even when our starters come out and we have all the kids from the bench in, they're still able to play at the high level and able to whoop up on teams. I like to have people off the bench that can come in and perform to the same level as all the kids that started.

TC: Why did you choose your jersey number?

AP: Actually, it was sort of given to me. There's a lot of tradition on the team. Coach Quinn asked me if I wanted to be number one because Dave Campbell - two goalies before I was here - was number one and the number was available so it's just to kind of keep the traditions the same. I was also number one at the beginning of my high school career so it seemed to make sense.

TC: Do you have a pre-game ritual?

AP: Yeah, I do a bunch of things. I'm not necessarily superstitious but, uh, I like to get myself mentally centered. Maybe some heavy breathing, meditation. Just kind of getting myself ready to go, I think that's the best way to put it.

TC: What is the best thing lacrosse did for you?

AP: Probably gotten me here. Um, I'm a solid student but I don't know if it was just based on grades alone that I would have ended up at Middlebury, and lacrosse kind of gave me that opportunity to get here, become a better student. I think for that reason lacrosse has sort of taken me to the next level academically.

TC: Is lacrosse a "preppy" sport?

AP: Um, yeah, I'd say so. You get stereotypes a lot like that but you look around, lacrosse teams come to play us and you see in the general lacrosse world, there's a lot of excessively bright colors. It kind of looks like an Easter basket sometimes, which I guess is all right.

TC: Is there anything you guys learned or changed since losing three games out of four earlier this year?

AP: I think what happened was coming out early we had somewhat of a chip on our shoulders. We got to the finals last year, lost in a close game, so coming out this season just didn't seem like things were gelling. We had issues scoring, issues stopping the ball, sort of a full team thing, just not really playing loosely and to our potential. I think once we got into the season, we realized we need to get to the next level and start actually finishing and start actually stopping the ball and, you know, playing lacrosse. Things started to happen. I think we just needed a wake-up call. Usually we get a wake-up call earlier in the year. Last year was our Gettysburg game in which we got blown-out. This year, we got beaten a few times. We almost anticipated that it would come, and didn't realize that in order for it to come, it's going to take a big shift mentally and physically to get there. So I think the team has definitely come a long way since the beginning, just sort of coming together, being a team, as opposed to the beginning when we weren't quite together enough and didn't really come out hard enough and trying to look past a lot of our opponents that we had beaten in years past. The problem with our league - or not a problem, it's usually a good thing - but the NESCAC for men's lacrosse is extremely competitive as is our entire schedule so if we come out not ready to play, the other teams want to knock us off because we're a big name in Division III and so they all come out hungry anyway. If we're not there to match their intensity, then anything can happen.

TC: What is your best lacrosse moment?

AP: I think in more recent years, with last year in the NESCAC playoffs, we were in the finals playing against Wesleyan. I ended up stepping it up, having one of those games where everything is just kinda clicking right, kept it to a low score, made a bunch of saves and we won the NESCAC finals. We ended up winning all our games, start to finish, in the NESCAC, which I think for our team last year was our biggest accomplishment because a lot of people hype up the Division III national championship game and the NCAA playoffs, but really you can't do much in the NCAA playoffs without winning the league. And given that the league is as tough and unpredictable as it is, I'd say that was definitely the best moment of last year and my college career. Coming out, played a good game, played hard, it was physical and up and down the whole time, so I'd say that was my best moment.

- Zamir Ahmed, Sports Editor