February 6, 2010
One more shot for Quinzani
by Lenny Megliola/
Winning championships became a habit for Max Quinzani. On the way to setting a national high school scoring record, Quinzani won three state lacrosse titles at Massachusetts powerhouse Duxbury.
"High school was great,'' Quinzani says. "We had a very good class. A lot of them went on to play Division 1 (in college).''
So has Quinzani, at high-powered Duke. But the championships have stopped, even though the Blue Devils have been in the hunt for NCAA titles. The Blue Devils lost to Johns Hopkins in the championship game his freshman year, and in the national semifinals the next two years, against Hopkins and eventual champ Syracuse last season. That leaves Quinzani with one more shot at the title. "I think we can make another run this year," Quinzani said of the 2010 Blue Devils. A title for Duke would cap off Quinzaniís storybook career.
Whether his lacrosse story will continue in the pros is up in the air. Quinzani already has a job waiting for him at Morgan Stanley in New York when he graduates, but pro lacrosse is very much on his mind.
"Hopefully I'll get drafted,'' Quinzani said. "If I could play in Boston, thatíd be nice." Boston has two pro teams, the Blazers (indoors) the Cannons (outdoors). His preference is clear-cut: "The outdoor game," he says, with no deliberation.
Max, as a kid, played the usual sports. "Duxbury has a lot of youth sports," says his father, Rob-Roy. "Max played soccer when he was really little, but that was just running around on the grass. His first youth sport was hockey."
Rob-Roy, who played lacrosse at Roxbury Latin, helped start up the sport in Duxbury. "Max began going to practices with me," says the father. "I was coaching fifth and sixth graders. Max was in the second grade. It's great coaching a team if you don't have a kid on it. Then, it's like a bad drug."
That soon changed. Rob-Roy was about to coach his kid. And it wasn't even his idea. "Max practiced with the team, then the first game he begged me to get in the game. I said 'You're too little.' The players said 'Let him go in.' We let him play one shift. He scored a goal within 30 seconds."
And so it began.
Why did little Max tag along in the first place? "My dad never liked to get a babysitter," says Max. "I loved going to the practices and games. It was like football with a stick."
He wouldn't be the only Quinzani to carve a sensational career at Duxbury High. Gus, a sophomore now playing at St. Joseph's in Philadelphia, one-upped his big brother by winning four state titles at Duxbury, finishing in grand style by scoring the winning goal against Billerica in overtime of the championship game. "I was very proud of him," says Max, who was on two of those title teams with his brother.
When Quinzani was finished at Duxbury, his 577 points was a national record (since broken). "I had no idea at the beginning of the season that I was near the record," he says. "Then my coach kind of told me the record was looming on the horizon. I wanted to get it over with, so I could just play. We had a well-rounded team. We had bigger goals."
The record-breaking point (a goal) came against Acton-Boxborough. "They stopped the game, I raised my hand and we kept playing," says Quinzani, relieved that it was over.
He was a three-time All-American and was The Boston Globe's player of the year in his junior and senior year. Quinzani had 93 goals and 63 assists his last season, 2006. Like Gus, he finished his high school career with flair, racking up five goals and four assists in the championship game against Xaverian. Duxbury went 96-4 when Quinzani played. He also won a state title in hockey. The trophy room was getting a bit cramped.
Quinzani looked at Georgetown, Maryland and Yale. "Duke came late in the process," says Quinzani. While he fell in love with the school and campus, the timing wasnít great. Shortly after his commitment, three Duke lacrosse players were accused of rape, a sensational story that swept the country. Duke's 2006 season was cancelled.
The trial was excruciating. Once, Quinzani couldn't wait to start his freshman year. Now, he wondered.
With all the tension and commotion on campus, Quinzani says "I didn't even know if the team would be re-instated. All of the recruits that year had the option to transfer." Most did; Quinzani was one of just three recruits who stayed. "I'm happy I did," he says.
On April 11, 2007, the verdict was announced by North Carolina attorney general Roy Cooper: "We believe these three individuals are innocent of these charges."
On the field that year proved to be another eye-opener for Quinzani. All the recruits had been high school standouts. Now they were being integrated with players with two or three years of college experience. "It was tough," says Quinzani, a 5-8, 175-pound attacker. "I learned I was a little fish in a big pond. In high school, I hadn't failed that much. In college, I had to learn how to fail a lot, get knocked around, get back up. I had to get a lot more physical. I hit the weight room. I'd stay after practice and shoot the ball at an open net.
"I had to figure it out."
He did. "I had a pretty good year, but I wanted to be better than I was."
In his sophomore season, he was second in the nation in goals with 63. Last season, "We were a young team and kinda overachieved. It was a transition year for me. There were a lot of new players. It was a different composition."
This season, Duke's blueprint doesn't change. Win it all, which fits Quinzani's makeup perfectly. "He's a type-A guy," says Rob-Roy. "Very motivated. He sets high goals."
It still bothers Quinzani how his first three seasons ended, so near, yet so far, from a national championship. It stings even more, because the last two championships were played at Gillette Stadium with family and friends in the stands. "It was awesome. I'd see a lot of my buddies yelling my name."
If things work out in the MLL draft, and Quinzani winds up with the Cannons, he'd have his own rooting section. "It would be crazy for them not to go after Max," says his father. "He's local."
Cannons coach Bill Daye acknowledges that the local ties are an attraction for the pro team. Just as Sean Morris — a Marshfield product — has been a terrific ambassador for the hometown team, Quinzani could do the same.
"We definitely have our eye on Max, but so do other teams," Daye said, acknowledging that Quinzani's value as a player goes well beyond the local ties. "He has the talent to play in our league. He's a tough kid. Very quick. He's played against top Division 1 players. A lot of people will look at Max."
When all is said and done, this is a father-son story, little Max tagging along as Rob-Roy would coach the older boys. It didn't take long for Max to be struck with the same passion for the game that his dad harbored most of his life.
The boy played, the father watched, and coached him. That was a long time ago, but Max knows when the seed was planted, and who gets the credit. "My dad. He put the stick in my hand. He stuck with me."
