Indians Insider: Alumni Profile: Okie Bernabo
July 8, 2013
By Zach Smart
Full Story
There are guys that can rip shots from downtown and point-blank, burn defenders on dodges and break ankles with a dizzying arsenal of one-on-one moves.
How many of these players, however, can lead on and off the field at a furious pace?
How many can make lacrosse a commitment of highest order, rather than becoming p****ified and resting on their laurels?
How many of them can truly accelerate their teammates' production, sacrifice their individual desires for team glory, and give every drop of gas in the engine during every millisecond on the field?
Few contain the full package.
Few can master the commitment to giving everything from start to finish. Few can stay true to their love for the sport by busting their ass in the weight room, elevating their teammates level of play, and rising during pressure-baked moments.
For LIU Post and Mahopac's Okie Bernabo, however, the leadership aspect helps cement his identity as a lacrosse player.
"He's just a great leader," said Mahopac High and current teammate Anthony Berardis.
"He really has just a competitive edge that others can't match."
Berardis continued, "He may not be the biggest kid, he may not be the strongest kid, he may not be the fastest kid. But he is a ground ball machine and he plays the game with such passion, he's always one of the best players on the field. He's been a captain since his sophomore year and you can see why. He's a great leader and an even better teammate. I was fortunate to end up playing with him again in college."
Okie Bernabo was a top-tier player at Mahopac. Known for his grit and nose for the ball, the 5-foot-7 workhorse could delivered and absorb rough hits. With augmented physicality, the former All-Section Bernabo's game thrived.
Mahopac head coach Mike Haddeland describes Bernabo as a workout fiend and an adept passer. It was Bernabo's role to inhale ground balls into his stick and facilitate and feed the Pac's proficient scorers.
"He was one of the hardest working kids on our team," said Haddeland, who won a state championship with the Indians as a player in 1996.
"He led by example. We asked him to move to middie his senior year and he did so, excelling at creating offense for us. He had a lot of hockey assists, breaking down the opponents' defense and spinning the ball. He may not have always had the assist, but he was responsible for the goal."
With the opportunity to play alongside local products he grew up playing with on Hudson Valley's U13 team at LIU Post, Okie didn't flinch.
Assistant coach Frank Vitolo, a Yorktown graduate who founded the Lakeland/Panas lacrosse program, gives the Pioneers another Westchester presence that helped Bernabo feel right at home.
Bernabo wasted little time getting acclimated to a new souped-up style of play.
Bolstered by competitive juices, innate love for the game, intensity and team-over-everything mentality, he became a captain as only a sophomore.
An integral piece in the Pioneers' 11-3 2013 campaign, Bernabo scooped up a team-best 58 groundballs in 14 games.
He had nine groundballs in a tight, 14-13 loss to Mercyhurst back on April 13. During a 15-5 slaying of NYIT, the Mahopac product had eight groundballs, a goal, and an assist.
During a 15-11 victory over Molloy, Bernabo scooped up seven groundballs, scored a goal, and dished out an assist.
Being multi-faceted helped Bernabo leave his fingerprints on the state sheet. Being cerebral helped C.W. Post earn visibility.
The Pioneers were coming off a national championship when Bernabo stepped foot on campus as an incoming recruit.
With fall ball, a fierce pre-season schedule featuring a crop of high-caliber Division-I programs , and intense off-season workouts, the bar isn't just set high. It's raised to moon-scraping levels.
Bernabo subscribes to the year round commitment because he's seen the results. Coming off a magnificent 11-3 campaign, Bernabo has lofty expectations for a deep NCAA tournament run during his final season
Hustle and game awareness separate Bernabo from other players of his style.
At Mahopac, being a smart and strategic player helped him earn meaningful minutes on the varsity since his freshman season, when he played under coach McClay.
When the coaching baton was passed to Mike and Dave Haddeland, they knew what they were getting from the then-sophomore.
Mike Haddeland coached the veritable beast amongst boys while he was a seventh and eighth grader playing freshman lax. Bernabo brought a brand of sheer toughness, along with the intangibles that don't show up in the stat book.
The talent these coaches identified early on has translated to success at LIU Post.
Bernabo will inherit some ownership of the Pioneers as a senior and veteran captain.