Senior midfielder Alex Corpolongo braces for the inevitable as his collegiate career as an impeccable midfielder for the Stony Brook men’s lacrosse team will come to an end after this upcoming season.

The explosive shooter from Purdys — a hamlet in Westchester County — will be testing out the waters in the working world as life after lacrosse is rapidly approaching.  

“I have a job lined up with a company I did an internship with this past summer in construction management,” Corpolongo said. “But I don’t know what to do, I’ll start there and see where life takes me I guess.”

Corpolongo still refuses to let go of the game he has played his whole life. A new position could be in the works if he decides to pursue the game he knows best in a new role, as a coach.

“I’ve already had conversations with coaches I’ve had to see if maybe that could be an option for me going forward,” Corpolongo said about coaching. “You know I want to stay close to the game for sure. We have a very tight-knit community in lacrosse, it’s very rewarding to be close with a lot of different people that you would have no way of meeting if you didn’t play the game, so I definitely want to stay close to the game, so coaching would be something that definitely interests me.”

Head coach Jim Nagle was able to see Corpolongo grow as a person and a player, coaching him since his freshman year of college.

“It was real evident from his work in the classroom the type of student he was, his work ethic, his commitment, all of those things,” Nagle said, reminiscing on his recruitment of Corpolongo.  “Clearly he had talent, but he had all of those intangible leadership qualities that you saw immediately when you met him.”

Both a coach and a mentor to his midfielder, Nagle is not worried about where Corpolongo will wind up in the future.

“He’s a real meticulous worker,” Nagle said of the two-time member of the All-Academic team. “Off the field, he is a tremendous student, he is very diligent in everything he does and that transfers to his lacrosse skills very well.”

Nagle will ultimately begin the process in which he will replace the impact Corpolongo has made on the field for his team over the past several years.

“It’s more about his leadership,” Nagle said. “Teaching guys how to work and take the shots, and have the diligence that he did.”

The once superstitious middle schooler who used to wear the same shirt for every game during the season needs just 31 goals this year to slide into the top 10 on the Stony Brook career goals list. It’s a number that should be doable for the sharpshooting midfielder as he was able to tally a career-high 36 last season, a number he has improved upon every year.

“It would feel great, it’s probably not one of the main things I have on my mind,” Corpolongo said. “But a milestone like that, there’s been some really great players to play here and being in that company would definitely be an honor.”

Aside from becoming one of the best scorers in men’s lacrosse history at Stony Brook, the New York native has something else in mind that he wants to accomplish when he wraps up his athletic career this year.

“We’re definitely ready to get that America East championship,” Corpolongo said. “It’s kind of eluded us throughout my three years playing so far but I think it’s definitely in our reach this year and we’re going to go after it with everything we have.”

The shooter best known for his outside sniping abilities from long distance has shown improvement on his shot every season. Corpolongo scored 13 more goals in his junior season compared to his sophomore campaign.

The dynamic midfielder will be a major key to the success that Stony Brook will have this year during his senior campaign. With his ability to shoot from long distance, leadership qualities and his rare versatility to shoot both right handed and left handed, the 2016 first team all-conference player is optimistic about his final season as a Seawolf. Corpolongo has started off his senior year on the right not as he was able to net the game-winning goal in the first game of the season.

Corpolongo accredits all of his major successes to his parents who have been able to push him the extra mile both on and off the field.

“I would say my parents both have really guided me,” Corpolongo said. “What they told me growing up was to find something I really love to do, so that I could go after that with just all of my passion, so that it wouldn’t feel like work. That’s basically what lacrosse is for me, this is what I would do if I wasn’t a Division-I athlete, I would be playing lacrosse anyway. I really love this game.”