Offer Accepted
ADAMS TWP — Playing lacrosse at the Division I college level had been a goal for Enzo Grieco for some time. With just one season of varsity play under his belt, however, being offered a scholarship at the start of his junior year seemed a bit too much to ask.
He was in for a pleasant surprise.
On Sept. 1, the first day colleges are allowed to offer juniors, Penn State University did just that.
“Penn State is such an amazing school, this opportunity came as a surprise,” said the junior attackman. “I’ve been working toward it, but I wasn’t expecting it to come this early.”
Grieco, who helped Mars win WPIAL and state titles last spring with a 23-1 record, was also offered by Jacksonville State, St. Joseph and Robert Morris, but made a verbal commitment to Penn State last Saturday.
“I really love the big school atmosphere,” he said. “The coaching staff has set their minds on being the best and I have a lot of friends there.”
The Nittany Lions are led by head coach Jeff Tambroni, who is ranked seventh among all active Division I coaches in career victories with 205.
PSU, among other programs, noticed Grieco at an Under Armour All-America tryout just two days after the Planets claimed the state title with a 9-6 win over Marple Newtown June 11. He scored two unassisted goals in the win, capping a truly spectacular sophomore season.
Grieco led Mars with 81 goals and was third on the team with 102 total points. In four state playoff games, he found the net 15 times, though he started the campaign simply looking to make an impact.
A knee injury kept him from producing as a freshman.
“We had so many great players on the team, I wanted to keep up with them,” he said. “We had a number of players who I knew would be getting a lot of attention from opposing defenses and I just wanted to take some of the pressure off of them.
“I picked up a lacrosse stick for the first time when I was two years old and began playing on a team when I was four. I’ve always been on the attack and my shot was my strong suit. But I couldn’t even get out and practice during my injury.”
It took Grieco little time to shake off the rust and become yet another weapon teams had to account for.
“He’s got good hands and works well off the ball to get open,” said Mars coach Bob Marcoux of Grieco. “The other guys often looked to set him up because they knew he was very capable of finishing.
“He’s so big (6-foot-3, 220 pounds) and strong. Whether teams defended him with a bigger guy or a fast guy, he could get past them all.”
Outside of high school, Grieco plays for CW Elite, which includes some of the best high school players in the WPIAL. He is determined to do his part to keep the Planets a major threat for more hardware next spring, but already has an incredible season to look back on.
“Winning the state title was something I’ll never forget,” he said. “The seniors on that team, they were leaders and were all amazing. I miss those guys.”
