The casual fan would never know just how green Naso is.
January 29, 2025By: Anna Taylor
Just a few weeks before the Saskatchewan Rush started training camp in November, Jake Naso played five games in the Montana Lacrosse League in Missoula, MT to help him adjust from field lacrosse to box. Naso hadn’t played box since he was a kid, and even then, he’d had limited experience.
But with the success he’s had in his first six National Lacrosse League games, the casual fan would never know just how green Naso is. The face-off specialist, drafted 34th overall in 2024, has a winning percentage of 59.2, with 90 wins in 152 attempts. He’s currently sixth in face-off win percentage and fourth in number of faceoffs won (among primary face-off men who have played more than one game).
Naso scored his first goal on December 28 and has recorded 44 loose ball scoops.
In six games, Naso has established himself as a key contributor for the Rush:
Against Halifax: Naso beat Jake Withers at the dot 57% to 42%
Against Rochester: Naso won 25 of 30 faceoffs, who tried four different players against him
Against Philadelphia: Naso won 74% of the faceoffs against Tyler Burton
Against Las Vegas: Naso won 60% of the faceoffs, who put up 6 players against him
In his second game, against Withers and Halifax, Naso made people sit up and take notice that a new face-off man had arrived. Saskatchewan’s number 56 recognized that he had just beaten one of the best face-off men in recent league history.
“That was a super scrappy game,” he recalled. “Withers has had a ton of success throughout his career and is a player that is more than just a face-off guy. He has another element to his game, whether it’s pushing transition on the offensive end or playing defense. I was just going in there trying to do my best and provide my team with some possessions. I was able to get a lot of help from our wing guys throughout the game collecting loose balls and yeah, we ended up getting the possessions we needed to win.”
Naso played field lacrosse growing up, trying attack and midfield before specializing at the X.
“Once I realized that you could get recruited for college and potentially go to a great university, I really took it seriously and tried to be the best that I could be at it,” Naso said. He learned from some of the best, training with former Denver Outlaw Tom Kelly, former Team Australia captain Matt Schomburg, and the Buffalo Bandits’ Connor Farrell.
“Farrell was still at LIU at the time so we would meet up, take some faceoffs and he would coach me as well. So I’ve had a bunch of people in my corner throughout my time. They were all superb at teaching me what I know today, and I couldn’t be here without them.”
The 22-year-old from Long Island is currently living in North Carolina, studying for his Master’s Degree in Management Studies at Duke University and flying back and forth to NLL games. He played four years with the Blue Devils and is now on the sidelines, assisting the coaching staff. Naso owns the records at Duke for faceoffs won (1,001) ground balls (554), and he holds seventh place all-time in the NCAA with those numbers as well.
It seems like lacrosse will work out for Naso, but should it not, he has options. Naso studied Political Science during his undergrad, and his Master’s program will give him a foundation in business, which, combined with an outgoing personality, will serve him well in the sales industry.
He could also head into the recording studio – Naso is accomplished violinist, having first picked up the instrument in second grade.
“I took it very seriously throughout middle school and high school. Obviously, college is a different animal, so I couldn’t prioritize it as much, but I recently picked it back up again,” he said. “I’m traveling all weekends now, but I was playing violin for our local church at Duke at the chapel, and that was something I really enjoyed because I am religious – I’m Catholic – and to be able to play for the church was a cool experience. I haven’t been able to do it much lately because of the travel and getting back late on Sunday, when mass is in the morning.”
Naso played the violin at a high level growing up, with the Long Island Orchestra and the Suffolk County Orchestra, playing all over the county. These days, he enjoys playing more contemporary pieces, like Coldplay’s Clocks. If you’ve seen Netflix’s Bridgerton, for example (Naso hasn’t), many modern pieces adapted for the violin are used for the wildly popular soundtrack to supplement more classical compositions.
Like the violin, the face-off position is an evolving artform. Lacrosse fans are constantly debating the merits of the position, and Naso was happy to contribute his two cents.
“I definitely think they matter, right? If you don’t have the ball, you can’t score,” he explained. “I mean, I could see both sides to the argument. I’m always going to advocate for the faceoff because it’s what I love to do, but sometimes statistically, one team will get the better of the team on faceoffs and the outcome of the game won’t reflect upon that. It’s such a unique part of the game… If there’s a long faceoff and the guys have been wrestling for the ball and someone comes away with it, the crowd erupts and they get juice from it. And I know the guys can feed off that too. It’s a big momentum swing, so I’m an advocate for it.”
Music and lacrosse may well be the two great passions in Naso’s life, and he was lucky to do both growing up in a supportive family environment that included his dad, Steven, mom Staci, brother Jordan and a Boston Terrier named Milo.
“I don’t get to give him a shout out much, but my dad was the one that pushed me and my brother to the max or as hard as we could go and was always there. He loved to help us in our practices with whatever we needed; if we wanted to go out in the backyard or the garage, roll out a few feet of turf and take some faceoffs, he was always there with us helping us. Trying to gain info from the outside and preach it to us the best that he can. So, a shout out to him for all the coaching he did for me and my brother, and to my mom too for all those long drives to get us to tournaments and games.”
The family has since moved from their Long Island roots. Jordan attends the University of Tampa, and Steven and Staci now reside in South Carolina, which makes traveling to see Naso play a big task.
“We do play a game in Georgia, which is about one state over from South Carolina, so they are going to make the drive for that one,” Naso said. “The travel to Saskatchewan is a lot for them. It’s halfway across one country and then up another country, so I don’t blame ’em for not coming to those. I told them it’s okay if they just settle for watching it on TV.”
From North Carolina, it takes Naso two or three flights to get to Saskatoon, making stops in either Toronto or Atlanta, and then a connection from Edmonton.
This past weekend, Naso faced his biggest challenge yet – TD Ierlan of the Toronto Rock, who came off the IR just in time to help the Rock win their first game of the season. Ierlan was injured in a pre-season game, ironically against Saskatchewan.
“He ended up stepping on my heel and rolling his ankle,” Naso explained. “I had hurt my ankle in April at Duke so I felt for him. The ankles are a pain in the butt and annoying to deal with.”
Naso reached out to Ierlan after the injury to make sure he was alright.
“It looked like a pretty bad injury, but he was very [gracious] and said ‘great game’ after we faced each other. It was a great battle out there with him and he [told me that] if [I] need anything along the way with help or getting adjusted to the new rules, feel free to text or call, which I appreciated.”
Because of the respect between the two, neither player went easy on the other on the weekend. Ierlan showed no rust in beating Naso 14-9 at the dot, scooping seven loose balls to Naso’s two, en route to an 11-8 Rock win.
Week 9 features another test for the 4-2 Rush against the Albany FireWolves. Albany’s Joe Nardella got the better of Naso in the season opener, but Naso can be forgiven, considering it was his first NLL game.
“They’re going to be a hungry team, right? Their record doesn’t prove how good they are because they’re one shot away from beating us,” Naso said, referencing the overtime loss the Rush suffered against the FireWolves. “We’re just trying to focus on one day at a time, knowing that anyone could win on any given day.”
Naso continues to learn the box game, including how to handle the physicality and what being part of an NLL locker room means (bonding!), and he’s been relying on his teammates to help him out. He pointed out Mike Messenger, who took faceoffs for the Rush before Naso arrived.
“He’s always asking, do you want me to go this way? Do you want me to go that way? How do you want us to set up for the draw? And he kind of gives me insights because he is a great defenseman himself.
“I think I have a lot to improve upon, maybe starting a little bit more offense, pushing transition a little bit more when the opportunity presents itself. My main job is to try and get the ball for the team and that comes first but I’m learning other aspects of the game [every day]. Credit to my teammates for having patience with me because it is a little bit of a learning curve for me coming from the field game to box, but they’ve been there every step of the way.”
Whether it’s family or teammates, Naso is lucky to have had so many lacrosse people in his corner helping him learn the intricacies of the game he loves, and will continue to improve at.
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