Division I Recruit Michael Andreassi is the Face of Suffolk County, Sachem North Lacrosse

Things keep getting better for Michael Andreassi. In a short amount of time, he's become one of the top names in Suffolk County lacrosse and his verbal commitment to the University of Massachusetts last month put a stamp on his future.

The best part is that Andreassi is only a junior.

"He's a tireless worker," said Sachem North coach Jay Mauro. "He has an aggressiveness about him and the ability to take over a game, and it's something I haven't seen at the high school since I've been coaching the last six years. He has the ability to get to the cage, the ability to get his hands free, his shots lefty and righty are accurate, and he has great poise."

High school athletes are increasingly committing in their junior year, or in some cases even younger. With a number of schools looking at him after his Rookie of the Year season as a freshman and terrific sophomore season, he eventually chose UMass because head coach Greg Cannella – a Long Island native – and his staff made him feel welcome.

Canella made it clear that Andreassi still has work to do, which is understandable since he has two full seasons of high school lacrosse left to play.

"Coach said I have to keep working at it and sees that I could be really good at Umass," he said. "I just have to keep practicing and doing what I'm doing."

Among working on his stick handling, he'll focus on "getting bigger, stronger and faster, so I can compete with some of the top level kids on Long Island. I'll start fine tuning my shooting and dodging ability and bring my game to the next level."

Not a stranger to practicing more than even the average Long Island lacrosse kid, Andreassi almost always has a stick in hand -- a true sign of a solid Division I prospect.

In two varsity seasons, he has scored 73 goals and is on pace to being one of the best offensive producers North has graduated in the last decade.

Prior to this season, Andreassi was picked as one of the top 20 rising juniors in Suffolk County and performed at the Nike NYS Shootout -- a substitute for the Empire State Games, which were cut due to budget constraints. They have since been reinstated.

Andreassi also plays football at North and was part of the historical 2009 squad that won a school-record 10 games and lost to William Floyd in the Suffolk County championship. In lacrosse, the Flaming Arrows lost in the quarterfinals to West Islip last spring, meaning Sachem's powerhouse sports are on the cuff of greatness once again.

"It's getting back to where it used to," said Andreassi, whose brother Marc plays lacrosse at C.W. Post. "We're still in the process of rebuilding the Sachem name."

Having a Division I junior recruit helps.