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DJ Xavier‘s recruiting process was over almost as quickly as it started.
The Team 91 2026 Storm goalie welcomed Cornell assistant coach Jordan Stevens to his house yesterday morning. Stevens sold Xavier on his vision for not only him as a player, but the Big Red’s potential in the near future if the Rocky Point standout were to join the squad.
Stevens barely made it out the door before Xavier knew that he’d found his future home.
“Coach Stevens came to my house (Tuesday morning), and once he left, my family talked about everything,” Xavier said. “There was no other school that I wanted to go to other than Cornell. I went over the plan with my family to make sure they were good with it, and I called him basically right after he left and committed.”
Xavier became the second member of the NLF National Championship-winning Storm to commit after Dylan Faison (Saint Andrew’s, Fla.) verballed to Notre Dame football in the spring before also adding a lacrosse commitment to the Irish this week. He joins a long line of Team 91 products who have gone to Cornell, most recently 2021 Blaze attackman/midfielder Danny Caddigan, 2019 Orange faceoff midfielder Angelo Petrakis (Massapequa) and 2019 Orange defenseman Frankie Ciniglio (Ward Melville).
“Best Education and Really Good Athletics”
“I wanted a school with the best education and really good athletics, and Cornell’s got both,” Xavier said. “Coach Stevens was saying that they’re trying to develop the best guys with the best attitudes. They want to develop the team as a whole, and I want it to come together to win a national championship while I’m there.”
It’s a fitting commitment for a player whose stock continues to rise every time he suits up. Xavier’s been the starting goalie at Rocky Point since he was an eighth grader. The team’s taken its lumps at times, particularly against some of the best competition in the country. All that’s meant has been that there have been more shots to see, and that’s helped Xavier take his game to another level.
It got even better this summer. He was excellent throughout the summer, showing the ability to make all the saves he should have and then taking some others away. Xavier was consistently good throughout, and he capped it off by helping the Storm take home the NLF National Championship against rival Long Island Express at Stony Brook. For Xavier and the Storm, it was a long time coming, but he saw the inner workings of a team coming together with a singular goal in mind.
“We just felt that connection between everybody and bringing the team together,” Xavier said. “We just wanted to beat Express because we kept playing them and losing to them, so it felt so good to finally beat them.”
A Winner in the Cage
It marked the Storm’s third title in four tournaments this summer. It was also an apropos peak for Xavier, personally. He joined the team in the winter of seventh grade. Since then, he made it a mission to play at the highest level in college. It took a lot of work to get there.
“Ever since Coach Sal (Locascio) came over, we started to build together a really good team,” Xavier said. “The staff helped a lot. Coach (Billy) Cataldo works with the goalies and he’s helped a lot. Coach Sal really helps me a lot psychologically.
As it turns out, it’s good to have one of the best goalies of all time coaching you. Locascio’s seen it all at the position, and he’s particularly proud of his pupil’s ascent to one of the best goalies in the country.
Bright Future Ahead with the Big Red
“DJ had an excellent spring at Rocky Point and used it as a springboard to an even better with the ‘26 Storm,” Locascio said. “His consistency and big-game ability were instrumental in us winning three of our four tournaments, including the NLF National Championship. He’s an excellent athlete and refined his technique a lot this year. The result was him playing the best lacrosse of his career. (Cornell head coach) Coach (Connor) Buczek and his staff have a great eye for talent and they’ve landed an outstanding goalie to start their 2026 class. We can’t wait to see what DJ does in Ithaca.”
If this summer’s history’s any indicator, the Big Red will be winning a lot with Xavier in between the pipes.