Attending Malvern Prep had a tremendous impact on the Dibartolomeos recruiting process.

The coaches at Malvern prepared the boys along the road up until September 1st when their recruiting process officially began. 

“I would say going to Malvern affected us a lot and definitely helped us for sure,” Lucca said. “Coach O’Grady, Coach McEvoy, Coach Mackrides, Coach Haus, and all the other coaches definitely reached out to a lot of colleges for us. It helped when college coaches called them or they were calling the coaches or just coaching us and getting us prepared for September 1st.”

The Dibartolomeo’s, originally from Lower Merion, decided to attend Malvern because they wanted to be surrounded by people who pushed them.

“So coming to Malvern was a great help, and the coaches obviously helped us a ton. But, also the players and the people at the school with who we surround ourselves with, they really make sure to push us to be our best every day, whether it’s in practice or just at the gym. So, I would say the community at Malvern has been a big help.”

Throughout this process, Lucca agreed his biggest influence was family, whether it was his parents or leaning on his brothers.

“The biggest influence was my brothers, all of us had big influences on each other, obviously my parents and my family were big influences, such as talking at the dinner table about the [recruitment and decision] process,” Lucca said.

But for Peri and Roman, along with their family, Lucca’s cancer diagnosis during their 8th grade year had a large influence on their lacrosse careers. Lucca was diagnosed with cancer as a 9th grader at Malvern Prep while Peri and Roman were in 8th grade.

“For my biggest influence, same as Lucca, it was my family and brothers, but most importantly Lucca was my influence. Especially when he was diagnosed with cancer, that really made me push myself harder to make it, and play division one lacrosse,” Peri said.

After visiting four schools, Penn State was an all around great fit for the trio. Some of the many reasons are, the atmosphere, the lacrosse coaches and team, and the alumni network.

“We visited four schools in total, Penn State, Cornell, UNC, and Army,” Roman said. “At Penn State, whether it’s the team bonding or the community, I feel like I fit in the best. Even if I wasn’t playing a sport, I would fit in best at Penn State. After college, I feel like the alumni system at Penn State will benefit us because Penn State is a hotbed for opportunities in Philly. So after graduation, I feel like that will play a big part,” Roman continued.

“Out of all the schools we looked at Penn State definitely just felt more like home than all the other schools did,” Peri said. “ At Penn State, how the team worked out and the way that they responded to everything, it just reminded me of a Malvern practice, it’s hard working and gritty.”

Now that the Dibartolomeos have achieved some of their goals, like being committed to playing division one lacrosse, they now have some new goals going forward.

“I’d say my goal going forward is to keep getting better and not stopping just because I committed,” Lucca said. “I definitely want to win two more inter-ac championships at Malvern and then at Penn State hopefully winning a national championship.”

“Initially my goal was just to make the varsity team because I knew Malvern was a very challenging school,” Peri said. “My initial goal was just to make the team, I want to keep pushing myself going forward.”

Throughout their lives, the lacrosse environment has helped them make many memories that they’ll never forget.

“[Roman’s] first being, when Peri and I played in the youth world series for lacrosse in seventh grade in Denver, which was an amazing opportunity, and special because they don’t really do it in Denver anymore,” Roman said. My second one was obviously just playing in the Inter-Ac Championship at Cabrini with thousands of people being there. The third was the day we committed because that’s obviously a big step in all of our lives.

When asked what advice they would have for a younger athlete or lacrosse player here at Malvern, they emphasized working hard and never giving up.

“I would say that when you’re a younger athlete at Malvern, you definitely don’t really know what to do,” Lucca said. “Sometimes I’d say you’re very intimidated because you see all the guys above you are bigger, faster, and stronger. I would say to spend a lot of time in the weight room and spend a lot of time hitting the lacrosse wall. You should spend a lot of time asking questions and just getting familiar with the sport. Practice when you can because you can get to the spot where you want to be.”

Penn State will be as just lucky as Malvern Prep to have the three Dibartolomeos in the classroom and on the lacrosse field.