By Dave Stewart
MaxPreps.com
DURHAM, N.C. - Thinking of taking a trip to Vegas anytime soon? Maybe playing some black jack or testing your luck at the slot machines? You might want to see if you can get New Fairfield’s C.J. Costabile to come along for the trip. It seems that everything he’s touched this year has turned to gold.
Costabile, a 2008 graduate of New Fairfield High School, sports a spotless 30-0 record and a trio of championships this year.
After leading the Rebels to a 23-0 record, an SWC title and their first Connecticut State championship Costabile hooked up with the U.S. U-19 National Team, which went 7-0 and won the International Lacrosse Federation World Championships in July.
Costabile, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound long pole defenseman, reached his next destination in Durham, N.C., last week, as he’s embarked on his college career at Duke University on a lacrosse scholarship with the Blue Devils, and hopes to continue his recent success there this year.
“In competitive lacrosse I haven’t lost a game this year,” Costabile said. “I hope it continues on right now. Hopefully, we can bring back a nice little national championship. That would complete it. I’d have a nice little trifecta going on.”
Duke certainly provides Costabile with a perfect stage to continue those winning ways, as the Blue Devils have a combined 35-5 record under head coach John Danowski the past two seasons. The Devils have won the last two ACC championships, reached the NCAA semifinals in 2008 and the NCAA final in 2007. Each time, they fell to Johns Hopkins by just one goal.
Costabile said his first few days in Durham have been “a blast.”
“I’m meeting a lot of new people. A lot of guys are coming down (soon), but a lot of the guys have been here and it’s just a really good time.
“They’re really embracing us,” he said of the veteran players. “It’s not like we’re shunned as the freshmen. They really have taken us under their wings and are showing us the ropes.”
Costabile may be a freshman newcomer at Duke, but a few months ago, he was a veteran leader on a New Fairfield Rebels lacrosse team, which came into the season with high hopes under head coach Marty Morgan.
The Rebels expected to do well, but a perfect season? That’s far-fetched by anyone’s standards.
The Rebels accomplished the feat in dominating fashion, outscoring their opponents 353-96 and winning 18 of their 23 games by 10 or more goals. Even the state Class S championship game was a blowout, as New Fairfield beat defending champ Weston, 17-7.
There were some close ones along the way — an 8-6 win at New Milford and three-goal decisions against Amity and St. Joseph were tougher than expected. But the biggest victory of the season came on April 30, when the Rebels knocked off FCIAC power Ridgefield 17-13 at Tiger Hollow.
“We felt we could run the table fairly well, but nobody really expected 23-0,” Costabile said. “The toughest game was the Ridgefield. After the Ridgefield game, that’s when we started feeling we could really pull this off and go undefeated. That’s when it hit us.
“Everyone knew that we had to work hard and there were never any letdowns.”
Costabile put up outstanding numbers for the Rebels and was a force on defense and face-offs and was able to transition in a heartbeat to the offense. The long pole defenseman was a unique weapon for the attack, racking up 63 points on 38 goals and 25 assists, including a hat trick and four assists in the State final.
“It’s pretty natural,” Costabile said of his play on offense. “There’s the defensive part of the game, but you’ve got to look transition and stuff because that’s a big part of the game, too. That’s part of the game I just love. Everyone likes scoring goals.”
On face-offs, Costabile was 242-of-313 for 77 percent and also led the Rebels with 260 ground balls, an 11.8 per game average.
Costabile was named the Connecticut Player of the Year and was one of 14 Connecticut players to receive All-American honors from the Connecticut High School Lacrosse Coaches Association.
After the NFHS graduation in June, Costabile had a quick turn-around to his next team, as he almost immediately left to begin practicing with Team USA for the ILF World Championships in Coquitlam, British Columbia.
Costabile was the only Connecticut resident on the Team USA roster and was one of just four high school players to suit up for the U-19 team. He switched positions, as well, moving from defense to long-pole middie.
His final tally included one goal and one assist, 14 ground balls and a 13-5 record on face-offs — a 72 winning percentage.
Costabile said playing for Team USA and representing his country was quite an honor, but it was an honor which came with its own kind of pressure. Since the World Championships began back in 1988, the United States has never lost a game, going 36-0 and winning every title.
That meant the players would have one thought in mind.
“We had a goal from day one that we were winning a gold medal and to get there and actually accomplish that is so huge,” Costabile said. “No one wanted to go home with a silver medal. It was gold or nothing.”
Team USA had a fairly easy time in its first three games, beating the Iroquois 20-15, Australia 21-7, and Japan 27-0, over the first three days of competition.
When the U.S. players took on a strong Canadian team on July 6, however, it was a different story. Canada peppered the U.S. goal in the third quarter and scored nine goals to take a 14-7 lead entering the fourth.
Costabile said the Team USA players never hit the panic button, but kept their ultimate goal in sight.
“It was pretty much just get it done,” he said. “We know what we can do, we’re all talented and we know how to play lacrosse. They scored seven goals and we can score seven right away, too. No one really ever accepted losing, it was more like let’s go, we’re going to get this done.”
Craig Dowd capped a high-octane fourth quarter with the game-tying goal with 26 seconds remaining. James Green then nailed in the game-winner with 47 seconds remaining in the first OT.
“We were down seven in the third quarter and then Craig Dowd took control and had like five goals in the fourth quarter and we won in OT,” Costabile said. “It was wild — that was one of the craziest games I’ve ever been a part of.”
Team USA trounced England twice in the next two games, first 24-4 in the final game of pool play and then 25-5 in the semifinals.
That victory set up another showdown with Canada in the Gold Medal game, but unlike the fist contest, this one was in Team USA’s court all the way.
Or as Costabile put it, “We kicked the door in on that one.”
Canada hung around long enough to keep it interesting and trailed by three goals heading to the fourth quarter. Team USA left no doubt, however, and outscored Canada 5-1 for a 19-12 win.
“You’ve always got to respect a team like that — they put up some quick goals on us in the last game,” Costabile said. “When we were up by six or seven in the last minutes, you realize we’ve got this in the bag right now.”
Costabile has now traded in the Red, White and Blue of Team USA for Duke Blue, but his summer of gold has left him with many winning memories.
“There’s really no words to describe it,” Costabile said. “To be able to represent your country and win a gold medal is incredible. I’m just happy we got it done. It’s one of those experiences which really is once in a lifetime.”
Dave Stewart, the Sports Editor of the New Canaan (Conn.) Advertiser, is a MaxPreps.com writer and photographer. He may be reached at 203-966-9541 or at sports@ncadvertiser.com
