Cali Kid Caffarelli Goes Coast-to-Coast to Set Records at Monmouth

Brian Fisher determined right about the time he became Monmouth’s first men’s lacrosse coach he would look anywhere and everywhere for players to stock the Hawks’ roster.

There aren’t many further-flung places from the Jersey Shore in the continental United States than Orange County, Calif. Considering the career Ty Caffarelli has authored, it was a wise decision.

“We tried to sell him that Newport Beach and Monmouth Beach are one and the same,” Fisher joked. “Just different coastlines.”

Whether he’s playing near the Pacific Ocean or the Atlantic, the senior is a top-notch finisher. Caffarelli is averaging four goals per game early this season while helping Monmouth to a 3-1 start after Saturday’s 14-5 win over Mount St. Mary’s.

Cafarelli amassed seven goals in the Hawks’ opener against Manhattan, then eight more against Wagner. Both times, he set the program’s single-game scoring record.

He’s already one of six D-I players with one eight-goal game and another of at least seven in the same season this decade, joining a who’s who of recent college crease attackmen: Hofstra’s Ryan Tierney (2021), Delaware’s Mike Robinson (2021), Princeton’s Coulter Mackesy (2023), Yale’s Chris Lyons (2023) and Virginia’s Payton Cormier (2024).

“I’m just continuing to learn, asking teammates, asking questions, just opening my eyes,” Caffarelli said. “I do love watching film, but at the end of the day, you’re just going to hop in the game and figure it out on your own. I’m trying to think, especially as a crease guy, two steps ahead. I’m not looking at the first guy who’s dodging. I’m looking at, ‘All right, where is the rotation coming from? Where can I set myself up for success?’”

He’s had plenty of it over four seasons at Monmouth, an experience created in part thanks to connections formed during his West Coast upbringing. He played for former Franklin & Marshall and Penn coach G.W. Mix at Corona del Mar High School, and Mix’s son Ryan began his playing career at Notre Dame at the tail end of Fisher’s tenure there as an assistant.

It was another former Fighting Irish attackman — Ryan Hoff, a third-team All-America selection who led Notre Dame in scoring when it produced an undefeated regular season in 2009 — who came to mind when Fisher became familiar with Caffarelli’s game.

“He was that old-school crease guy where you don’t really notice him until you look at the stat book and you go, ‘Oh, he had six points today,’” Fisher said. “Guys like that have a major ability to impact the game, and as we got to know Ty and saw him play and the people he had in his corner, realized good players come from all across the country in different regions and good players are good players for a variety of different reasons.”

Caffarelli immediately earned a starting job as a freshman, leading the Hawks in goals (31) and points (35) while earning all-rookie team honors in the CAA. But he suffered a wrist injury before his sophomore season that ultimately required surgery, and while he tried to play through it, after three games he and the Monmouth staff agreed it would be wise to take a redshirt year instead.

That led to an unfamiliar angle for a guy who rarely left the field in his college career’s early stages, one the cerebral Caffarelli has since put to good use both on the field and as a leader.

“That was something that really helped me open up my eyes because freshman year, getting in right on the team and having an impact, honestly taking a step back and looking at a different perspective maybe from someone who’s an impact guy but maybe not playing all the time,” Caffarelli said. “Being that guy who’s picking up balls, filming practices, stuff like that, seeing every perspective, which I definitely think helped my view.”

Last year, Caffarelli picked up second-team all-CAA honors while tying the Monmouth single-season goals record with 34. He’s already nearly halfway there with 16 this season, and he is up to second in school history in career goals with 87. Bryce Wasserman scored 99 for the Hawks from 2015-18.

Caffarelli also brings a slick measure of efficiency to his work. His .523 shooting percentage led Division I last season, and he’s deposited 44.4 percent of his shots this year.

“When our offense plays really well, Ty has the ability to play really well,” Fisher said. “And when Ty plays really well, our offense has the ability to play really well. The better we are playing offensively and having good fundamentals, sharing the ball, it certainly helps everyone’s game. And with Ty, being that finisher with the shooting percentage he has, it certainly helps when he can put the ball in the back in the net.”

With a tested scorer — and as Caffarelli points out, teammates who do an exceptional job of finding him — Monmouth hopes to take a step forward in the CAA once league play arrives in a few weeks. The Hawks played their first nine seasons in the Metro Atlantic, making two NCAA trips before making a jump with the rest of the school’s athletic department in 2022-23.

That’s meant a change in resources and competition, an adjustment Monmouth has made throughout Caffarelli’s career. Fisher notes with enthusiasm the Hawks are “just hitting our teenage years” as a growing program, and he’s fulfilled his initial promise of casting a wide net. Monmouth’s roster also includes three other Californians, plus players from Colorado, Oklahoma, Oregon and Washington.

Caffarelli intends to use his extra year of eligibility, and Monmouth offers an accelerated MBA that appeals to the finance major who wants to start his own business someday. For now, he wants to be part of an on-field breakthrough — and has a chance to put up some more gaudy numbers along the way.

“I think the level of urgency is we’re right on the cusp,” Caffarelli said. “We lost a lot of games last year by one goal, so our mindset this year is just making every play that counts just so we can end up on the other side.”