On Saturday, June 21, against the Boston Cannons, Maryland Whipsnakes faceoff specialist Joe Nardella became the fastest player in professional lacrosse history to reach 1,500 faceoff wins, and just the third player ever to hit that milestone joining Greg Gurenlian and Anthony Kelly in an elite club.
“I always had fun with faceoffs because it was a one-on-one thing,” Nardella said. “I love the back and forth of trying to know what your opponent’s doing and strategizing and making adjustments to win those little battles, and that’s something that always excited me.”
Nardella suffered two ACL tears in his 11-year career — the first suffered in the final game of the 2017 regular season with the Boston Cannons, and the second in 2022 on the final day of U.S. national team tryouts, which sidelined him for the entire 2023 PLL season.
But what could have been career-ending injuries became career-defining comebacks.
“It definitely made me tougher and a lot more difficult to bother, which I think plays very well into the mindset you need as a faceoff guy. You can’t let anything affect you,” Nardella said. “There’s a lot of things that can go wrong on the faceoff that cause you to lose and cause the other team to score goals and go on runs. But you’re ultimately in the pros, the only guy out there the team can rely on to get them the ball.”
After his second ACL surgery and grueling rehab, Nardella returned to the field in 2024 and once again proved his resilience. In his first season back with the Whipsnakes, he led the PLL in faceoff percentage (67.5%), ranked second in total wins (164) and scooped up 93 ground balls, helping propel Maryland to the 2024 championship game.
It marked his first championship appearance since 2020, when he posted a career-high 72.5% faceoff win rate. That summer, Nardella won 100 faceoffs in just six games and played a pivotal role in Whipsnakes’ run to their second straight league title. His dominance earned him 2020 Paul Cantabene Faceoff Specialist of the Year honors and First-Team All-Pro recognition.
“A couple of years ago, Joe Nardella was the Faceoff Man of the Year in our league,” Whipsnakes’ head coach Jim Stagnitta said last season after Maryland’s 16-9 win over the Outlaws in Denver. “He’s, again, another consummate professional who prepares, who knows everything about the opponent; he’s a great leader in the locker room, he’s a winner, he’s been around it a long time, and when we have been at our best, we’re great up the middle of the field.”
Due to the toll of multiple injuries, Nardella’s approach at the faceoff stripe has evolved significantly over the years. Early in his professional career, he often relied on his counter moves to win possessions, even if he didn’t dominate the initial clamp. But after suffering two ACL tears, he was forced to refine his game and develop a more efficient and technical approach to faceoffs.
“As I’ve gotten a little older and smarter and went through the injuries, I’ve gotten much better being able to control the ball, control the clamp, making game adjustments to win the clamp and give our team a better chance, rather than me just chasing guys around and trying to use my athleticism,” Nardella said. “I think it’s given me a pathway to more sustainable success down the road; not using my knees and just clamping with my hands.”
Few faceoff specialists in professional lacrosse history have been as dominant or as consistent as Nardella.
Through 99 career games, the Whipsnakes veteran has won 1,523 of 2,587 faceoffs, good for a career win percentage of 58.9%. He’s also scooped up 794 ground balls, the third-most in pro lacrosse history behind Brodie Merrill and Gurenlian, who retired tied at 1,120.
Nardella and Merrill were teammates on the Cannons from 2015 to 2018, and 10 years after Nardella stepped on the field as a rookie, he still has trouble wrapping his head around the fact that his name is mentioned alongside legends like Merrill, Gurenlian and Kelly.
“Honestly, no, and it’s kind of nuts,” Nardella responded when asked about being in conversations with his former teammate and the two legendary faceoff men. “My first game, I split reps with Craig Bunker, who was an All-Star, so we’re kind of rotating every two and I was just trying to go out there and take it one faceoff at a time, and do my best.”
“Those things that I tell myself before I go out there and remain the same in a lot of ways,” he continued. “Although my thought process has completely evolved, and I feel like I have a lot better lacrosse and faceoff IQ. I really just try to take it one at a time and be present and try to dominate the moment that I get the opportunity.”
While Nardella’s individual talent is undeniable, his success at the stripe has also been a testament to the strength of the unit around him. Under Stagnitta, the Whipsnakes have consistently surrounded Nardella with skilled wings — including his latest unit of Colin Squires and Adam Poitras — who help turn faceoffs into possessions.
“[Stagnitta] brings the most out of guys,” Nardella said. “He holds everybody accountable. One of the things we always talk about is competing for every inch of the field. When it comes to faceoffs, from the whistle, we’re competing for every inch of the field to grab that ball, so him instilling that in the grand scheme of ground balls and faceoffs has definitely made us a better faceoff and ground ball team.”
The three operate as a cohesive unit, communicating constantly and emphasizing that it’s not about who picks up the ground ball, as long as someone in a Whipsnakes jersey does.
“If we’re not going to pick it up, our job is to make sure our guy doesn’t pick it up,” Nardella said. “So when the three of us can do a really good job of that, it gives the other two opportunities to make plays.”
Squires echoed that mentality, praising Nardella’s unselfishness and team-first approach.
“[Nardella] is unselfish, and if we’re open on the wings, he can just toss it right to us,” he said. “He doesn’t care about his own ground balls. It’s just, how can we get the ball to the offense? I think that’s one of the reasons why he’s so special.”
Before joining the Whipsnakes, Nardella posted a 57.7% faceoff win rate across four seasons with the Cannons and one with the Atlanta Blaze. But since joining the Whipsnakes in 2019, he’s taken his game to another level, winning 62.9% of faceoffs over the past six seasons under Stagnitta’s guidance.
Nardella’s rising win percentage over the years is no coincidence. A true student of the game, he spends hours watching film, studying opposing faceoff units and working to put himself, Squires and Poitras in the best possible position to win the ground ball the moment the whistle blows.
“[Nardella] comes up with a great plan for Adam and I to be prepared and in the right position on the wings,” said Squires. “So that’s kind of a reason, in my opinion, why he has so much success, is kind of that preparation that he puts in during the week to put us in the best possible position.”
Now in his 11th professional season, Nardella credits playing alongside younger teammates like Squires and Poitras — in their fifth and second seasons, respectively — with giving him a renewed sense of energy and perspective.
“Obviously, they’re a little younger than me, so they kind of invigorated some youthful spirit and life into my game, and I appreciate it,” Nardella said. “Those guys work hard. They play hard, and they’re super fun to be on the field with.”
Nardella credits Stagnitta for giving him his first real opportunity in lacrosse. As head coach at Rutgers, Stagnitta was the one who recruited him, recognizing a drive and potential in Nardella that other programs around the country may have overlooked.
“Big shout out to Coach Stags, because he’s the one who recruited me to Rutgers when he was the head coach there, as kind of just like a do-it-all midfielder who maybe wasn’t great at anything, but good at a lot of different things,” Nardella said.
After beginning his collegiate career with the Scarlet Knights in 2012, Nardella was introduced to newly hired Rutgers head coach Brian Brecht, who saw the same potential that Stagnitta did but took it a step further by honing Nardella’s skills specifically as a faceoff specialist.
“Coach Brecht was really the one who identified that that’s something I could be pretty special at,” Nardella recalled. “He talked to me about that as a freshman and sophomore, and I really sunk my teeth into it, took his advice and tried to be as good as possible, just so I could help the team win.
“I think it’s something that served me really well, not only in my college career, but obviously as a pro. I don’t know if I’d be in the pros at any other position.”
Now, 1,523 professional faceoff wins later, Nardella remains humble and more focused on the impact he has on the game, not just for his teammates, but for the next generation of players and the fans who follow it.
“My dad’s always told me about legacy and trying to leave the game better than you found it. So it’s definitely something that’s like in the back of my mind,” Nardella said. “I didn’t know I passed 1,500 [faceoff wins] until I had a few texts waiting for me after the game, and I certainly didn’t know I was the fastest one to get there until you just told me that, which is pretty neat. I think it’s really just a testament to loving the game and being a part of a bunch of really good teams and getting to play alongside some really good wing guys.”
