Youthful energy and a winning heritage forged at the junior college and major college level are traits that Cicero-North Syracuse’s new boys lacrosse varsity head coach, Nick Gatto, brings to the Northstars.

It was announced Thursday that the 33-year-old Gatto will take over at C-NS after Jack McAndrew’s lone season at the helm, when the Northstars had a 7-9 record. C-NS is still in search of its first-ever Section III boys lacrosse title.

Gatto, the assistant athletic director at OCC, is not the only new face on the C-NS staff. Two coaches who worked with Gatto at OCC, Mike Villano and Chris Brim, are also joining the Northstars, with Villano taking over as defensive coordinator.

Having grown up in Eastwood, Gatto attended Henninger High School and went from there to OCC, where in 2006 he scored 40 goals and 95 assists, leading the Lazers to the first of their long string of NJCAA national championships. He was also named the junior college Offensive Player of the Year.

Then Gatto went to Le Moyne College and the winning continued as he led the Dolphins to the 2007 NCAA Division II championship and a second-place in 2008, his senior year, when Gatto was an All-American selection.

Chuck Wilbur, OCC’s long-time head coach, hired Gatto as an assistant coach right after his graduation from Le Moyne. As the Lazers continued to amass national titles, Gatto learned plenty from Wilbur in his decade on the sidelines.

And now Gatto is at C-NS, where both varsity lacrosse teams will have new head coaches in 2020. Lloyd Hamilton stepped down as the girls lacrosse head coach earlier this summer.