Bayhawks hard core with Cantabene in middle

He's not biggest or fastest, but veteran's toughness goes long way for champs

Pro Lacrosse

The proof is in Paul Cantabene's knees.

It's in the scars, the scabs and the black and blue areas - the visible evidence of a lacrosse career spent battling against much bigger guys.

Cantabene is 33 now, but the Bayhawks' midfielder and faceoff ace is a master of deception. He still relishes the scrums in the faceoff circle as much as when he played at Loyola College in the early 1990s.

He is the first Bayhawk to jump into a scuffle. In fact, as goalie Greg Cattrano astutely pointed out, he is usually the one who starts it.

After playing lacrosse for nearly 20 years, Cantabene is still acting as if he has something to prove.

"He was the Iron Lizard [award given to the league's iron man] last year and I think that's the way most people view him," said Bayhawks player-coach Gary Gait. "The guy just keeps going. It's amazing because he'll never stop."

As the Bayhawks start their season and begin defense of their Major League Lacrosse title at 7:30 tonight at Homewood Field against the Long Island Lizards, the ageless Gait will draw the most oohs and aahs from the crowd.

Attackman Mark Millon, the league's reigning Offensive Player of the Year and the Most Valuable Player of last season's 21-13 victory over the Lizards in the MLL title game, will be the player opposing defenses have to stop, and Cattrano is fresh off a league MVP season.

But no Bayhawk will overlook the impact of Cantabene.

"He probably has the toughest job of any guy in the league and he plays the hardest," Cattrano said. "Every faceoff guy in this league gets beat on, but what Paul does every play is he wants more. He's the only guy I know that wants more punishment, and the older he gets, the more he wants. It's inspiring."

Lacrosse isn't like pro hockey, where each team has an enforcer, but if the Bayhawks had one, Cantabene, all 5 feet 11 and 200 pounds of him, would be the man.

He was one of the team leaders in penalty minutes the past two seasons, and the team captain has been never known to back down, especially if opponents are taking liberties against his teammates.

"I've always been that way," said Cantabene, now an assistant under his former college coach, Dave Cottle, at Maryland. Cantabene said coaching keeps up his passion for the sport. "I am a little feisty. I was the second youngest of seven brothers, so you learn that you have to fight to get your way. I've always thought that's the way you should play, hard all the time and right to the end."

Cantabene was a late bloomer, playing his first year of lacrosse when he was in the eighth grade. His first lacrosse stick, a red Magnum as he recalled, was a gift from his brother, Chris, then a student at Syracuse.

By the end of his freshman season at Irondequoit High School in Rochester, N.Y., Cantabene had worked his way onto the varsity and earned a reputation as a throwback midfielder.

"To me, it seems the really good midfielders are the guys that play both ways," said Cantabene, a second-team All American at Loyola in 1993 and the 2000 Player of the Year in the Southern Division of the U.S. Club Lacrosse Association while with Mount Washington.

An accurate shooter and a fearless dodger to the goal, Cantabene, a two-time MLL all-star, had nine goals and six assists last year, but his greatest value to the offensively stacked Bayhawks is in the faceoff circle.

Gait allows Cantabene to dictate when he wants to take an offensive shift with the midfield, with the understanding that he will be fresh to take the big faceoffs down the stretch.

Cantabene took 376 faceoffs last season and won 51.3 percent of them, including 20 of 32 in the MLL title game.

After 11 years of club or professional lacrosse - he has played in the indoor National Lacrosse League for more than a decade, including this season with the Philadelphia Wings - Cantabene admitted his body takes a little longer to recover.

Married last year and interested in starting a family, Cantabene can see the finish line, but he's not about to stop playing the way he always has.

"The harder I play, the more success I've always had," he said. "I was never the biggest guy or the fastest guy. I could never shoot the ball the hardest. But I always played hard."

Bayhawks Roster

Player-coach: Gary Gait Assistants: Craig Campbell, David Huntley

No. Player Pos. College Year

2 Greg Cattrano G Brown 1997

3 Jamie Hanford D Loyola 1998

4 Josh Sims M Princeton 2000

5 Paul Cantabene M Loyola 1993

7 Matt Dwan D Loyola 1995

9 Mark Millon A UMass 1993

11 John Blatchley A Towson 1992

13 Kip Fulks M Maryland 1996

14 Buggs Combs A Maryland 2001

15 Jeff Sonke M N. Carolina 2001

17 Matt Shearer M Loyola 1997

21 Erik Miller G Salisbury 1994

22 Gary Gait M Syracuse 1991

24 Mark Frye M Loyola 1999

25 John Horrigan G Towson 2001

26 Dave Daniecki D Penn State 1997

32 Shawn Nadelen D Johns Hopkins 2001

34 Brian Reese D Maryland 1998

41 Bryan Cole M Mt. St. Mary's 2001

42 Tom Marechek A Syracuse 1992

47 Jude Collins M N. Carolina 1996

Adam Baxter D Towson 2003

Jake Bergey M Salisbury 1997