And when he finally began to play lacrosse, which wasn't until eighth grade, and even football, in freshman year, Cocoziello was aware that he was several years behind many of his opponents in formal game experience.

But the Delbarton senior was also pretty sure that his enthusiasm and curiosity would somehow compensate for the lost time.

"Both were new to me, so I was really passionate about both sports," Cocoziello said. "I saw them as kind of a challenge and I liked that. I grew up playing soccer and baseball and stuff like that, but I was excited to try something different. And as soon as I started to play both sports, I always wanted to get better."

Call Cocoziello an antidote for youth sports burnout, or call him a bit of a risk taker for leaving familiar activities for unchartered territory.

He should also be called the The Star-Ledger 2004 Player of the Year.

It is possible that Cocoziello's thin lacrosse background could have affected his development in high school were he an attackman, a guy relied upon for goals.

Yet one needs to see only a few possessions to realize that Cocoziello actually lacks for nothing in stick skills. He exhibits an assortment of fine-tuned checks that helped force countless turnovers and led him to 100 ground balls this season. He even scored three goals with the longstick.

"You go to a Delbarton lacrosse game and he just sticks out," his coach, Chuck Ruebling, said. "Dan's got it all. He's an excellent athlete, he can smother guys defensively and he has the stick skills and ability to make incredible plays."

More importantly, Cocoziello negated such plays against Delbarton by always handling the opponent's best scoring attackman. He covered Mountain Lakes' Nick Bevacqua three times, West Essex's Matt Guido and Madison's Taylor Stehlgens, among others. None scored more than two goals against Cocoziello directly.

Cocoziello relied on quickness and smart positioning to keep pace with Bevacqua, needed to muscle up against the strong, tough-minded Guido and had to flash brilliant stickwork to neutralize the crafty Stehlgens.

Cocoziello was absorbed by each new assignment wrinkle. The more demanding the job, the bigger the game, the higher his imagination soared.

"Dan always rose to the challenge," Ruebling said. "The only time you might have ever worried was when he was matched up against a lesser player.

"But even then, you knew you would get something good. Dan has a great desire to be a very good player."

Cocoziello used to carry that kind of motivation for soccer, which he played until he entered Delbarton as a freshman. A versatile youngster with no set position, he was good enough to play at the prestigious Player Development Academy.

"I liked soccer, but the travel was starting to get to me," Cocoziello said. "Football was always the big sport at Delbarton and I always wanted to play when I was a kid. I started playing lacrosse the spring before (he began at Delbarton in seventh grade) and had a lot of fun."

Cocoziello, now 6-foot and 205 pounds, was a starting linebacker for the football team as a sophomore and a starting defenseman that following spring in lacrosse. Three spring seasons later, Delbarton would flaunt a 63-4 record and possess three consecutive NJSIAA championships with Cocoziello in the starting lineup.

"I never really had a favorite sport, though," said Cocoziello, who was recruited by numerous schools for football, but has decided to continue his lacrosse career at Princeton. "I always considered myself a football player in the fall and a lacrosse player in the spring."