Landen O’Neil (Barnstable, Mass.) was the face of the lacrosse world this past summer.
The consensus No. 1 player in the class of 2028 was nearing a recruiting window that would ultimately land him at Duke University. As a sophomore, the Tabor Academy attackman led the ISL in scoring with video game-like numbers — 62 goals and 119 points. All eyes were on O’Neil as his decision loomed when first contact began on Sept. 9.
But behind the spotlight, he’s just a kid from Cape Cod. When he wasn’t tormenting the opposition on the club circuit for 3D New England, he spent the summer working at Chart Room at Crosby’s in Osterville, Mass., a waterfront restaurant owned by Tabor Academy head coach Connor Gordon.
There, he’s a hometown celebrity. But you wouldn’t know it by the way he carries himself.
“People definitely know who he is, and he has a lot of attention,” Gordon said. “He’s a pretty humble, quiet, and reserved kid. So he kind of keeps it to himself.”
On the lacrosse field, it’s a different story.
“I think that there’s people who are talented, and then I think there are people who are talented and incredibly competitive,” said 3D New England director and 3D Lacrosse national director Pete Sessa. “There’s an it factor to his level of competitiveness that you just realize makes it different.”
He may be just a kid from the Cape. But there is nothing common about what O’Neil can do when his feet hit the turf on game day. And he might just represent a trend in New England that will continue to produce players of his caliber.
