Sport: Lacrosse
Born: November 25, 1991
Town: Fairfield, New Jersey
John LoCascio was born November 25, 1991 in Paterson and grew up in Fairfield, NJ. He was a baseball player as a boy, but in 5th Grade he switched to lacrosse after a friend suggested he try it. John was a natural. He starred in youth leagues and at West Essex Regional High School in North Caldwell, where he earned four varsity letters for coach Tim Glenn’s Knights.
John was all-state as a junior in 2009 and an All-American in 2010. He also lettered in football, basketball and wrestling. John quarterbacked the West Essex football squad and earned third-team all-state honors his senior year.
John earned a scholarship to Villanova and made the starting lineup as a long-stick midfielder his freshman year. Over the next three seasons, he distinguished himself as one of the top players at his position in the Big East. He was named to the all-tournament team each season, and was voted team captain as a junior in 2013.
The Wildcats were a Top 20 national team in 2011 and 2012. John worked his way into the Wildcats record book and helped Villanova reach the Big East final in 2013 and 2014. As a senior in 2014, he tallied 5 goals and 13 assists in 16 games. John was named Big East Defensive Player of the Year as a junior and senior. He was a third-team All-American his junior year and first-team as a senior. He was just the second Wildcat to earn this honor, after Brian Karalunas in 2011.
The Rochester Rattlers selected John with the 26th overall pick in the 2014 Major League Lacrosse draft. He had 3 points in 11 games as a rookie in 2014 and 6 in 15 games in 2015. The Rattlers reached the championship game in 2014 and 2015, but lost the Steinfeld Cup final both times. In 2016, the Rattlers boasted the best defense in the league, with John among he backline stars, but just missed the playoffs. The team moved to Texas in 2018 and became the Dallas Rattlers. The team played its home games in Frisco at the practice facility used by the Dallas Cowboys.
In 2018, the Rattlers went 11–3 and finished in first place. They defeated the New York Lizards in the league semifinals but lost the championship game to the Denver Outlaws.
A Finance major with an A– average at Villanova, John decided to out his degree to work full-time in 2019. The league folded following the 2019 campaign.