A Summer Up North: Joey Spallina Honing Skills in the OJLL

The end of the school year means college students head home for the summer. Many will find jobs in their hometowns. Mix in a few hours of work — lifeguarding, retail, waiting tables, maybe an internship for some getting ready to launch their careers — with a few hours at the pool or the beach with friends and enjoy the summer.

The typical categories of part-time jobs for college students have been the same for years. An atypical college job would be “Forward, Orangeville Northmen in the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League.” But that’s how Syracuse’s attackman Joey Spallina is spending time off from school.

Spallina completed his first spring at Syracuse with 68 points, one of the best freshman seasons ever for the prestigious program. A first year with that level of production has Orange fans wondering what’s in store for an encore. It’s all starting with a summer in the ultra-competitive OJLL. Spallina is not a fish out of water up north. He does have some box lacrosse experience from his younger years.

“The first time I started playing was probably third or fourth grade. Mac O’Keefe’s dad and Pat McCabe used to run clinics in Syosset,” Spallina said. “It would be 20-30 kids, about an hour and a half. From fourth grade until ninth or tenth grade, every winter weekend, I’d be in a box tournament in upstate New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, just playing box like that. We played a bunch of box in the fall up in ‘Cuse. So, I have a pretty good grasp on box. American box is definitely a little different from the OJLL, but it’s been great so far.”

During the season, Spallina said he often spoke with his coach, Gary Gait, along with teammates Alex Simmons, Finn Thomson, and offensive coordinator Pat March about playing in the OJLL.

“All they would do is chirp me about me about not playing up there. So, I said alright, I’ve got to go,” Spallina said. “When I called Coach Gait a little bit after I went home, I told him I was playing for Orangeville. He was so excited. He told me the same things I was thinking. It’s going to make my game better, my stick and hands that much better.”

But more than just silencing some of the pre-practice chirps from his Syracuse teammates, Spallina saw a unique opportunity not to just develop his own game, but to improve the way he works alongside his linemates. Thomson and Owen Hiltz both are Canadian and have grown up playing summer box.

Thomson is the leading scorer in the OJLL with 95 points. His 66 assists are also first in the league.

“Whether it’s having to play the ball directly into a corner every time to be able to score or the passing in tight windows, or the physicality. A big part of my outdoor game is getting into kids,” Spallina said. “The way they compete is — it’s not something I’m not used to — but it’s definitely a change of pace. As the QB of our offense, I have to understand box. Finn and Owen have been playing it their whole life. So, to be up here and give it a full go, and try to completely understand the box guys, I can make the ‘Cuse offense with those guys the best it can possibly be. Most kids now are in the Hamptons, at the ocean, at the beach, but I’m up in Canada trying to get better.”

Nick Rose, goalie for the National Lacrosse League’s Toronto Rock and the general manager of the Orangeville Northmen, had been pursuing Spallina in an effort to bring him across the border.

“I reached out to Joey last year,” Rose said. “Seeing film online, the hype around him, he’s an incredible field player. Teams are trying to find ways to get better and get an advantage over other teams. More Americans in the OJLL is only going to help those players and help the NLL at some point. Getting those players playing box lacrosse is a win-win all around. For us as the Northmen, for Joey, and for the game of lacrosse in general.”

Spallina’s skillset easily translated to the indoor game.

“Seeing how he handles the ball, can finish, makes plays. His vision on the field is incredible,” Rrose said. “To me, he doesn’t play like a typical American, to be honest. He seems to enjoy the contact in the field game. He’s willing to try and get to the net, and if he gets hit, he bounces back up. He seemed like a player that loves the game and is excited to play every time he’s out there. It was a good fit with our group. I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting it to be this good of a situation so quickly. He’s been a massive part of our team.”

While Spallina does have American box experience as a younger player, the OJLL is a whole new level of competitiveness. He recalled his first day in Orangeville, attending a youth game with players not even of high school, and within five minutes of his watching, a fight occurred. In a youth game.

“If you aren’t around it all the time, you might not understand. It doesn’t matter the level, everyone wants to win,” Rose said. “Whether it’s a B team or an A team, whatever. You can compare it to football in Texas. It’s just in our blood and what we do, and everyone wants to win, especially at the Junior A level.”

Still, it didn’t take Spallina too long to get comfortable. He scored less than three minutes into his first game on his second shift of the night against the Toronto Beaches. Spallina is now fifth in the OJLL with 66 points on 19 goals and 47 assists.

“I played well in that game,” Spallina said, “but that first shift I took, not to say I was just standing there, but I didn’t quite grasp it. I looked at the bench, and our offensive coach, who is one of the smartest lacrosse minds I’ve been around. He grabbed me and just said, ‘You are the best player in the country, go out there and play like it.’ And I scored the next time I got it. So, that’s when it changed for me.”

He was forced into being an impact player early, as the Northmen were missing some key players in those first few games.

“Early on in the OJLL season, a lot of kids are still finishing up school or different commitments. So, our first game in Toronto, we were very short handed,” Rose said. “And Joey was forced into that role where he had to take control quickly, and he did. He just ran with the responsibility of being a guy we can count on.”

Spallina is staying with the family of a Northmen alumni, Rose said. He is one of a few players the team helps for the season. Once a player is done with school for the summer and travels to Orangeville, the team has relationships with families that take in a player and help them with meals, travel and getting to games.

A look at the top scorers in the OJLL is also a who’s who of young stars in the NCAA landscape. Aside from Thomson and Spallina, Willem Firth (an incoming freshman at Cornell) is second. Ohio State’s Alex Marinier is third. Koleton Marquis, who just finished his freshman season at Johns Hopkins, is fourth. Spallina is the only American in the top five in scoring. And in the top 10. And in the top 15.

“It’s definitely different from being on Long Island and being on the beach all day, which really isn’t my thing, but I know a lot of guys doing that kind of stuff,” Spallina said. “Honestly, it’s the best thing you can do. Not to knock summer [field lacrosse], but it’s just not as competitive. Every game here is a battle. You have to work your butt off to score and contribute for your team. It definitely makes your field game a lot better, and I’d expect more Americans to come up here soon.”

Spallina’s decision to play in the OJLL could spark a change. In the lacrosse landscape, being skilled in both indoor and outdoor lacrosse is more important than ever. Eight of the top 10 players in the Premier Lacrosse League last season also play in the NLL. Players like Dyson Williams, Payton Cormier and Tye Kurtz, all in the top 10 in goals scored in Division I a season ago, have extensive box experience. CJ Kirst, a Tewaaraton Award finalist and attackman at Cornell, is also in the OJLL this summer playing as Thomson’s teammate for the Mimico Mountaineers.

“I think [Spallina and Kirst] now recognize how much playing box lacrosse, especially at the level of the OJLL, will help their field game,” Rose said. “They are both guys that probably want to get to the NLL some day, and I think they just want more experience in the box game in general. But credit to them for making that jump. It’s not easy leaving home for the summer and being away from family and friends. But at the same time, they’re making the most of it, making new friends and experiences, and hopefully more of the top Americans in the NCAA keep looking to play here.”

It doesn’t look like it’ll be a one-and-done plan for Spallina, either.

“I think I’ll come up here again next year and play most of the summer,” Spallina said. “My goal is to play in the NLL, maybe play some Senior A in a couple years.”

Expect a few more Americans to head north with him.