Bedford’s Tucci fulfilling dream playing in Premier Lacrosse League

Zac Tucci always wanted to be a professional athlete.

The road to get there took a lot of twists and turns, but he managed to successfully navigate it, and on Sunday, the former Bedford resident will suit up once again for the Waterdogs of the Premier Lacrosse League.

“Ever since I was younger, I knew I wanted to play a professional sport,” Tucci said. “I always saw myself playing at that level, so it felt natural, finally getting to that point from a personal standpoint. I’d dreamt to be on the field at that level, succeeding.”

In early May, it looked like his lacrosse career might be coming to a close.

Tucci was finishing up his fourth season playing for the University of North Carolina, where he had served as the Tar Heels’ faceoff guy since he was a freshman. During the year, he and Kevin Unterstein, an assistant coach at UNC who recently retired from the PLL, joked about Tucci’s chances of playing in the league.

When the Tar Heels missed out on the NCAA tournament a year after making it to the national semifinals, Tucci, who still had a year of eligibility left due to COVID-19, decided he was ready to move on to the next chapter.

“When the time came, my college team didn’t perform that well,” Tucci said. “Our season was cut short and we didn’t make the tournament. I thought, I didn’t want to be done playing lacrosse, but I didn’t think going to college another year was in my best interest.”

He again talked to Unterstein about the PLL, but this time, it was a serious conversation.

The PLL draft was held on May 10, and when Tucci’s name wasn’t called, he reached out to let teams know he’d be interested if a need came up. Three days after the draft, the Waterdogs added him to their roster as a backup to Jake Withers, their starting faceoff guy.

“It was no surprise that Zac made it as far as he has and into the PLL,” said Matt Guerard, who coached Tucci for two years at Bedford High School and with the NH Tomahawks. “I know how hard he works and the amount of dedication he has to be the best.

“He was one of the top faceoff guys in college lacrosse and the next natural progression for a player that good is the professional level.”

Guerard could see during Tucci’s time at Bedford that he had the potential for something big as a faceoff guy. Despite being the smallest guy on the field in high school, he was able to dominate.

“In high school, he was a noodle, but his athleticism was what set him apart at a young age,” he said. “He is one the most athletic freshmen that I had ever coached. Combine his athleticism with his faceoff skills, and you had a dominant player at a young age.”

Tucci left Bedford after his sophomore year, transferring to Avon Old Farms, a prep school in Avon, Conn.

While it was a loss for Guerard and the Bulldogs, it was a move that Tucci felt he had to make to reach his potential, and one that his coach agreed.

“Some kids attend prep schools for the wrong reasons, but not Zac,” Guerard said. “Zac had to take his talent where he was going to be challenged every day. If he were to excel, he needed to leave high school to get the challenge he was seeking.”

Going to Avon set Tucci on the path to UNC, which helped him get to the PLL, but even once he started the preseason camp with the Waterdogs, there was still a bit of an adjustment period.

“It’s almost a different sport,” he said. “Everyone is so good in practice, it doesn’t matter what position. It’s surprising when anyone drops a pass. The stick skills, the athleticism, the agility of everyone when I got to camp was incredible. Usually, your D poles aren’t the best shooters, but I swear some of them could pick up a short stick and play.”

With teams typically having just one FOGO active for games, Tucci watched the team’s first two weeks from home. That’s where he was when he saw Withers go down with an injury early in the team’s Week 2 loss to the Whipsnakes.

“I was in my basement, starting to study for SIE (Security Industry Essentials) exam, when I saw him go down,” Tucci said. “I was like ‘oh wow, I might be playing next weekend.’ Jake called me and said he thought he might be all right, but might need to rest up. I said I’m ready for it, it’s time to seize the opportunity.”

Tucci made his PLL debut the following week against Chrome and Connor Farrell, one of the top FOGOs in the league. It took about a half for Tucci to get into a groove, but he finished the game winning 47 percent of the faceoffs and picked up an assist in a 17-14 loss.

Through the last three games, Tucci has won 46 percent of his faceoffs, including a high of 54 percent in the team’s 18-9 win over Chaos on June 24. The Waterdogs also picked up an 11-10, come-from-behind win against the Whipsnakes in the final game before the all-star break two weeks ago.

“Lots of times, I’m a fast guy, I’ll come down off a faceoff or in transition at full speed and throw the ball too fast to an attackman,” Tucci said. “In the first game against Chrome, it’s a fast break, I thought about shooting, and I saw Ethan Walker. I basically shot the ball to my teammate and boom, he dunks it for a goal. I don’t think that would have happened (in college).

“On groundballs, if you bobble it the first time, there’s like a two-percent chance you’re finishing with the ball in your stick. If you don’t get it the first time, there is no way you’re getting the ball.”

The Waterdogs are scheduled to take on Chrome at 4:30 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2, with Tucci in line to take faceoffs again.

It will be the first game for him since starting a new job, as he was hired as an investment banker with Bank of America and moved to New York City earlier this month. Most players in the PLL have another job on top of playing, but not many take on a full-time role the way Tucci is and he expects it to be a challenge to make it work.

“It’s quite the time commitment,” he said of his day job, “but it’s something I’m more than happy to be doing. I’m going to take it and run with it as long as I can, as long as I can hold out physically.”

Guerard believes that if anyone can figure out a way to do it, it will be Tucci.

“He will just need to lean on veteran players to figure out the balance that works him,” he said. “I believe he can pull it off and get the right balance.”