Home Grown Lacrosse is proud of its Alumni – here are three student-athletes who all rose to freshman positions in competitive college programs and have completed their first years with flying colors. Home Grown took some time to connect with some of our former lacrosse players to get the dish on how their respective seasons went.

Nicholas Vazquez, a prominent midfielder/attack for Haverhill High who garnered All MVC First Team Awards as well as All MVC Offensive Player of the Year, was recruited to play for nearby DII Merrimack College. In his first year, Nick put 19 points on the board, 15 of them goals. He attributes his work ethic to his success this year and is grateful for any chance he gets on the field (coming from a 2nd line midfielder!). Says Nick, “my biggest highlight from this year was definitely beating LeMoyne College, they were ranked 1st in the conference and the country and we won in overtime”. Nick is looking forward to next year and another great season with his new family at Merrimack Lacrosse.

Kyle Burke, an extremely savvy long stick midfielder for Haverhill High and named to the All MVC First Team, was recruited to play for the Gulls of Endicott College in local Beverly, MA. Kyle had won himself a starting position early in the season but then missed a month of the season due to an injury. The Haverhill Alum came back with a force and finished out the season to earn the starting spot for the first round of NCAA’s, the Gulls 6th appearance in the NCAA games. Collecting 5 ground balls to go with 5 caused turnovers, Kyle and his teammates beat Montclair State (NJ) in the first round before bowing out to Tufts University, 21-8 in the quarterfinals. “We had a really young team this year and we started out a little shaky, losing some games early. Once we meshed, we were much stronger out there together” says Kyle. He will return to the team as a sophomore in the fall.

Joe Natale, a hard-to-stop attacker who also graduated from Haverhill High, decided to play his college lacrosse at Curry College in Milton, MA. The Colonials finished 8-8 on the season, 4-6 in conference. Joe had 10 goals and 4 assists on 44 shots this year, suffering a collarbone injury which sidelined him for several games. That didn’t stop him, however, as he was also a defensive force on the team, picking up 10 ground balls to go along with his statistics. Also an All-MVC First Team selection in high school, this looks like just the beginning for Joe as he takes his college career one step further next year as a sophomore.

Each and every year Home Grown Lacrosse graduates another great class of lacrosse players to welcoming college programs. You can read where our alumni have gone on our website under programs: Academy Teams: HG Academy Alumni.