Dominick Roberge believes it’s his size that makes him a top-notch faceoff man for Sewanhaka’s boys lacrosse team.
“I have a size advantage,” said Roberge, a senior captain. “And I’m pretty much stronger than anyone I face against.”
Sewanhaka coach Peter Burgess agrees.
“He’s the strongest kid in the school, he’s always in the weight room” said Burgess. “He’s about 200 pounds but it’s all muscle, you can’t teach that.”
Roberge also got tagged with a nickname to represent his strength.
“They call me ‘universe,’” Roberge said. “Because I’m the strongest guy in the universe my [basketball[ coach says.”
Through the first 13 games of the 2014 lacrosse season, “Universe” has seven goals and eight assists and has impressed coaches with his faceoff skills.
“A lot of kids, when they face off, they push the ball forward and pick it up and it leads to a fast break,” said Burgess. “He does that a lot for us and it creates offense. But defensively, he’s also preventing that from happening to our team.”
Burgess believes faceoffs are one of the more important aspects of the game for Sewanhaka.
“If you can’t win faceoff, you can’t take possession,” said Burgess. “The other team gets the ball and they now have more opportunities to score.
“If you’re a good faceoff guy, you can really control the game.”
Roberge had a strong showing in an April 1 game against Garden City, the two-time defending Class B State Champions. Roberge went head-to-head with James Sullivan, a junior, who has been Garden City’s faceoff specialist since the eighth grade.
“Even if I didn’t win the faceoff, I didn’t let him go down and score,” said Roberge, who went 2-for-4 in faceoffs against Sullivan.
Burgess says he can see Roberge playing NCAA Division I lacrosse as a faceoff specialist. But lacrosse is just one of many sports where Roberge uses his chiseled frame. He plays lineman and kicker for the Indians football team, power forward for the basketball team and defender for the soccer team.
Roberge has received the highest accolades in soccer, as he was named Nassau Conference A1 Defender of the Year last fall.
He plans on playing soccer and studying business at the University of Bridgeport.
“He’s a phenomenal athlete,” said Burgess. “All year, he’s played an integral part of the sports programs here at Sewanhaka.”
