John F. Zulberti (January 20, 1967 – August 1, 2021) was an American four-time All-American

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

player at Syracuse University from 1986 to 1989. The

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

won the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championships in 1988 and 1989 with Zulberti teaming up with perennial all-timers

Gary Gait Gary Charles Gait (born April 5, 1967) is a Canadian retired Hall of Fame professional lacrosse player and currently the head coach of the men’s lacrosse team at Syracuse University, where he played the sport collegiately. On January 24, 2017, ...

Paul Gait Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

, and

Tom Marechek Tom "Hollywood" Marechek (born August 25, 1968 in Victoria, British Columbia) is a retired professional lacrosse player. College career Marechek played college lacrosse at Syracuse University where he teamed with Paul and Gary Gait to form one o ...

. He drowned at the age of 54 in August 2021.

Syracuse Orange

In the 1988 championship, Zulberti teamed with high scoring teammates the Gait brothers and

to lead the Orange to a 13-8 win over

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach a ...

. These same four offensive leaders again teamed up to win the 1989 championship 13 to 12 over Johns Hopkins. Zulberti was named the

Jack Turnbull Award The "Lt. Col. J. I. Turnbull Award"''Go to' (box title is "2009 USILA Coaches of the Year Announced") ''and then scroll down'' to the lower box, entitled "2009 USILA Special Awards". The fourth regular award listed is: "Lt. Col. J. I. Turnbull Award ...

winner as the nation's top attackman in 1988 and 1989. He is among the all-time leaders in NCAA scoring, is 6th all-time on the Syracuse scoring list, and even ranks among the all-time point getters in New York Public School history.

MILL

John played professionally in the

Major Indoor Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United States and five in Canada. The N ...

for the

Buffalo Bandits The Buffalo Bandits are a professional box lacrosse Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in Canada in the 1930s, where it is more po ...

, playing in their inaugural season of 1992 and again teaming with Marechek to win a championship.

West Genesee

Like fellow Syracuse alum

Brad Kotz Bradley 'Brad' A. Kotz was a four-time All-American NCAA lacrosse player at Syracuse University from 1982 to 1985. Syracuse Orange The Orange won an NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship in 1983 and made two additional appearances in the NCAA fin ...

, Zulberti played high school lacrosse at powerful

West Genesee High School West Genesee Senior High School (colloquially referred to as West Genny or WG) is a 9-12 public high school in Camillus, New York, United States. It is part of the West Genesee Central School District. Recognized academic programs In addition to ...

, where he had 361 career points. In his junior and senior years at West Genesee, Zulberti had 129 and 139 points, respectively.

Syracuse University

:^''(a)'' 12th in NCAA Men's Division I all-time Assists :^''(b)'' 19th in NCAA Men's Division I all-time Total Points

References

External links

Syracuse Media GuideSyracuse Men's Lacrosse 1989 StatisticsSyracuse Men's Lacrosse 1987 StatisticsSyracuse Men's Lacrosse 1986 StatisticsNew York Public Lacrosse records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zulberti, John 1967 births 2021 deaths American lacrosse players Syracuse Orange men's lacrosse players Buffalo Bandits players Deaths by drowning in the United States Accidental deaths in Georgia (U.S. state)