Nick DeMaio underwent ‘maturing process’ in transition from finisher to feeder for Towson men’s lacrosse
After each Towson men’s lacrosse game, Nick DeMaio can count on a text from older brother Anthony, who helped Maryland capture the NCAA championship in 2022. And there are no pulled punches.
“He’ll definitely reach out and tell me if I did something wrong,” Nick DeMaio said with a grin. “He’s not harsh, but he definitely gives it to me straight, which is good. You need that.”
Considering the season Nick DeMaio has put together this spring, those evaluations might be more positive than negative. The graduate student attackman is tied for sixth among all NCAA Division I players in assists with 36 and ranks 11th in points per game at 4.8.
DeMaio is already tied for sixth on the Tigers’ single-season list for assists with Mark Miller (1983 and 1984) and trails Jules Siskind (41 from 1979). He is tied for ninth on the career register for goals (92) with Ryan Drenner (2014-17) and Brad Reppert (1998, 2000-02) and trails Bob Griebe (96 from 1972-75).
With DeMaio, No. 15 Towson (10-3, 6-0 Coastal Athletic Association) can capture a conference-record 10th regular-season title by defeating No. 18 Delaware (8-3, 6-0) on the road on Friday at 7 p.m. Coach Shawn Nadelen characterized DeMaio’s development as “one of the neater stories that I’ve been able to be a part of.”
“His maturity and his growth and his ability to kind of strip down some of his personal fight within himself has been awesome,” Nadelen said. “This year, we’re really benefiting from that, and that’s a tremendous credit to Nick for being able to embrace that and to be willing to grow and be willing to be coached.”
Like their father Tom, who played ice hockey, lacrosse and baseball at Springfield College in Massachusetts, Anthony and Nick DeMaio got into ice hockey and lacrosse early. But after the family moved to California more than a decade ago, ice hockey wasn’t as prevalent, funneling the brothers to lacrosse.
Nick DeMaio had been committed to Boston University. But after a postgraduate year at a prep school in Connecticut, Maryland coach John Tillman expressed interest, and DeMaio joined Anthony with the Terps.
Nick DeMaio spent 2 1/2 years in College Park before deciding on a change of scenery. He settled on Towson because of former teammates James Avanzato and Kyle Berkeley being there and Nadelen’s receptiveness.
In his debut in 2022, DeMaio led the Tigers in goals with 36 and added nine assists while finding a groove with fellow attackmen Avanzato (31 goals and 25 assists) and Luke Shilling (21, 19). Last spring, he paced the team in both assists (21) and points (50) as he began to make the transition from finisher to feeder.
“It was kind of a maturing process,” he said. “I think when I first came here, I just kind of played off of the two attackmen I was with, James Avanzato and Luke Shilling. I was the shooter back then. I didn’t shoot that well, but I shot the ball.”
Nadelen credited offensive coordinator Matt Musci and assistant coach Andy Shilling with identifying DeMaio as a promising playmaker. Nadelen spoke candidly about DeMaio’s difficult adjustment to what the coaches asked of him.
“The first couple of years, there were definitely some touchy times where even his status within our team was in question just with how it was,” he said. “But it was something where you could see his passion. It wasn’t that he was not being a team guy. He just needed to continue to understand how he could be a team guy and how he can still have success but let it come to him a little bit more and not be so worried about thinking that he had to do everything.”
DeMaio said the process “began to click” last summer.
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“It’s definitely a learning process through the coaches talking to me and me actually putting my head down and doing it,” he said. “It’s a process you’ve got to learn, and it’s definitely hard as a player psychologically to think, ‘OK, I’m going to be a feeder more than a shooter.’ But if you put yourself into that position, I think you can easily do it.”
On a starting offense that includes sophomore and Archbishop Spalding graduate Mikey Weisshaar (35, 17), sophomore and Severna Park graduate Joaquin Villagomez (26 goals and eight assists) and junior Bode Maurer (21, 1), DeMaio understands the ball will usually run through his stick. And that’s what the offense is geared to do, according to Nadelen.
“We want him to be able to be that quarterback,” he said. “He’s kind of grown into that role, and that has led to where he is from a points standpoint. He’s able to sit behind the cage and make sure guys are working within the offense by cutting and moving and doing what they need to do. He’s got great vision and a strong IQ. So he’s earned that opportunity to be in that role.”
Senior midfielder Josh Webber, a Sykesville resident and Calvert Hall graduate, said everyone knows to have their sticks up when DeMaio has the ball.
“Anytime he has the ball, I know he’s looking inside,” said Webber, who ranks fourth on the team in assists (12) and fifth in points (26). “So if you’re moving into a different position, you’ve always got to be ready to shoot because he will find you if you’re there.”
As much as he has developed into the quarterback for the Towson offense, DeMaio isn’t shy about shooting. After converting 24.6% of his attempts last season, he has connected on 37.7% of his shots this spring.
“People probably see me more as pass-first this year,” he reasoned. “But when I get the chance, I think I’ve gone back to my old self so that I can shoot the ball some.”
DeMaio’s future performances will likely impact the Tigers’ postseason fate — beginning with Friday’s regular-season finale at Delaware that will determine not only the regular-season champion but also who receives the top seed in next week’s CAA Tournament. But DeMaio insisted that he isn’t the team’s only threat.
“Everyone has their role, and I think it’s a role that everyone has just bought into, and that’s why we’ve been so effective this year,” he said. “We kind of just do what we want and do what we do. Scoring goals and winning games are all that matters right now.”
No. 15 Towson at No. 18 Delaware
Friday, 7 p.m.
