The Premier Lacrosse League’s Maryland Whipsnakes had their homecoming weekend on Aug. 3 and 4 at Homewood Field in Baltimore, and despite being a former Terp, rookie defenseman Ajax Zappitello could not wait to play on Johns Hopkins’ home turf.
“It’s the pinnacle of lacrosse,” Zappitello said on Glenn Clark Radio Aug. 2. “Maryland has so much pride with a lot of things, and they take lacrosse very seriously. To be able to play for the home team at such an amazing venue, it’s truly one of the best places in the world with just the history that’s behind it, the players that have come through that program.”
Each of the PLL’s eight teams, which were assigned home markets last November, is hosting a regular-season weekend this summer. The Whipsnakes won both of their games at Homewood, defeating the Philadelphia Waterdogs, 12-6, and the Boston Cannons, 16-14. Zappitello scooped up a ground ball and caused a team-high two turnovers against the Cannons.
Zappitello has been a staple for the Whipsnakes’ defense, posting 13 caused turnovers and 22 ground balls this season. He is also making an impact on the offensive end, scoring his first goal of the season on July 28.
“You look back on the week before, I had two shots and neither one of them went, so [head coach Jim Stagnitta] was giving me a hard time about it,” Zappitello said. “It was something I worked on throughout the week, and then I was able to luckily can one in.”
Zappitello has had a successful start to his PLL career, but it didn’t come without some growing pains. He joined the Whipsnakes shortly after the Terps lost to Notre Dame in the national championship game on Memorial Day.
“When I got up there, didn’t have too much time, it was a very quick turnaround,” he said. “[I] got stuck with some pretty big assignments on who I was covering, and the biggest thing for me was I was so used to getting the No. 1 guy and just getting dodged the whole time, just because that offense ran through that guy, but when you have six guys on the field at one time that were all the No. 1 guys in college and they’re coming together, the off-ball [movement] becomes such a big aspect of it that it took me a few weeks to kind of figure out.”
Zappitello, taken third overall in the PLL College Draft in May, has lived up to his draft status after an illustrious career with the Terps. At the University of Maryland, Zappitello started in every game he played in the last three seasons and helped the program win the national championship in 2022. He finished his career with 75 caused turnovers, tied for fifth in program history.
This past season was by far his best. Wearing the prestigious No. 1 jersey, the second close defenseman to ever earn the honor, Zappitello was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and a first-team All-American by the USILA, Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse Magazine.
Zappitello, who grew up in Portland, Ore., realized as soon as he visited Maryland that he wanted to be a Terp, knowing it was where he had the best chance to compete for national championships.
Zappitello will start another new job this fall as an assistant coach at Dartmouth, where his brother, Hopper, plays lacrosse.
“I know my mom and dad could not be more fired up just to have both of us in one place,” he said. “It does mean so much to be able to be at the same place as my brother. We only got one year of high school together before COVID came in and messed things up. So, to be back on the same squad as him, it’s going to be awesome and something I definitely won’t take for granted.”
For more from Zappitello, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Premier Lacrosse League