STONY BROOK, N.Y. — During a six-month-plus recovery from a broken collarbone suffered on an ill-fated handoff while quarterbacking his JV football team as a ninth-grader, Austin Deskewicz spent the considerable idle time watching YouTube videos of lacrosse faceoff technique.

From that foundation, he has developed into an asset in that role for the Stony Brook men's lacrosse team.

Deskewicz, a 6-foot, 185-pound junior, won 12 of 13 faceoffs during a 20-8 season-opening win last Saturday against Sacred Heart. The .923 win percentage has him currently ranked first overall in the NCAA, albeit after one week of play.

Overall, combined with contributions from teammates Renz Conlon (9 of 14) and Jimmy Burns (2 of 3), Stony Brook won 23 of 30 faceoffs against the Pioneers.

Conlon's .643 percentage in tied for ninth in the NCAA.

The success helped vault Stony Brook into the Inside Lacrosse top-20 poll for the first time in four seasons.

The group will face a far more stern test in this Saturday's noon game against Bryant at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium. Freshman Nathan Laliberte won 12 of 17 faceoffs in Bryant's 9-8 season-opening win against Providence. 

"It was definitely exciting having a lot of success in the faceoff X, but it wasn't just me out there. Our wings do a phenomenal job communicating with me on the field and off the field," said Deskewicz, a business management major from upstate Ballston Spa. "We were just clicking. As a faceoff unit in general, we were able to get into a rhythm. Renz and I were going back and forth every three or four faceoffs. We were clicking throughout the whole game."

Last season at Rutgers, Deskewicz won a third-quarter faceoff, raced down the field and bounced a shot past goalkeeper Stephen Russo five seconds later to even the score at 7 en route to a  come-from-behind 14-13 win. It was Deskewicz's first collegiate goal. Unfortunately, he suffered a hamstring tear later in that period and did not appear in the final two games before the season abruptly ended due to the pandemic. Had the season continued, Deskewicz intended to return a month after the injury.

Deskewicz was 7-for-11 in faceoff wins against the Scarlet Knights last Feb. 29. He owns a career .634 win percentage (52-for-82).

"It's always exciting playing a big game like that — when you're not starting, and you're having some success in the faceoff X," Deskewicz said. "Being able to score my first goal was amazing." 

Deskewicz's older brother, Steven Duncan, played football at Wagner. But the ninth-grade handoff, which led to the broken collarbone, resulted in Deskewicz's football playing days being in the rearview mirror early in high school.

"That was the end of the football career," Deskewicz said.