Meet the DiBartolomeo brothers, the trio that led Penn State to the NCAA lacrosse tournament
Lucca, Roman, and Peri DiBartolomeo — all defenders — have been playing lacrosse together since they were kids in Lower Merion.
Last weekend, as the final buzzer sounded to secure Penn State its first Big Ten men’s lacrosse championship since 2019, a mound of Nittany Lions players piled on their goalie.
Somehow, someway in that sea of blue and white at Rutgers’ SHI Stadium, Lucca, Roman, and Peri DiBartolomeo found each other. Finding each other is a habit the Malvern Prep graduates have had since they picked up lacrosse sticks in their hometown Lower Merion.
On Saturday, the brothers will be together in search of something no other Penn State men’s lacrosse team has never done — reaching and winning an NCAA national championship. First the No. 8-seeded Nittany Lions will open the NCAA Tournament against visiting Army at 2:30 p.m.
A reason Penn State (9-5) is here is because of the DiBartolomeo brothers — Lucca, the oldest, and twins Roman and Peri — who were oddly born on different days. The three of them are defenders and are often mistaken as triplets because they are around each other so much.
The DiBartolomeos have played together since elementary school and they received an unfortunate jolt when Lucca was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma his freshman year at Malvern Prep. It sent a scare through the family, and in a twisted sense, brought the three brothers even closer.
Lucca still carries the faded scars on the left side of his chest and neck. An MRI revealed he had a large mass between his lungs and his left shoulder that was slightly larger than a golf ball. Because Lucca missed so much school for chemotherapy, he reclassified, joining his twin brothers Roman and Peri.
“We were young and I really didn’t understand at first, but I remember my dad telling us in the living room, and it’s the first time I ever saw my dad shed a tear,” Peri recalled. “It was one of those things that felt unreal, and actually going through it was tough, but it made me the man I am today, being there for Lucca and my family.”
Roman and Peri found solace in their Malvern Prep family and it was an early lesson on perspective.
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“It did bring us closer together,” recalled Lucca, who is 21. “I was always a year older, and after that happened, I decided to reclass, but we always played together on the same teams growing up. We wanted to stay together when we went to college. Some schools weren’t willing to allow us to stay together, but once we came to Penn State, which has such a great pipeline with Malvern Prep, and meeting coach [Jeff] Tambroni, we decided on going here.”
Last year was somewhat trying, because it was the first time the brothers were not together on the field. Lucca and Peri suited, while Roman redshirted his freshman season.
In 2025, the Nittany Lions reached the NCAA Final Four for the third time in program history (with 2019 and 2023 being the other two seasons). Lucca and Peri played key roles in adding depth to the Nittany Lions defense, but this season, each has stepped into larger roles on a team that is giving up an average of 9.05 goals per game, third-lowest in the Big Ten.
“I saw last year as a great opportunity, because I got to know the [college] game a little better and develop more as a player,” said Roman. “Being on the field with my brothers next to me this year helped a lot. Being from Malvern Prep, we saw a lot of these [national] players so you know what to expect and being with Lucca and Peri, we know each other’s moves, we know how to communicate without saying anything to one another. It gave me confidence playing with them next to me. I’ve been playing with Roman and Peri my whole life, and we all play the same way.”
That way is a demanding, physical brand of lacrosse. Opposing teams know when No. 5 (Roman), No. 8 (Peri), and No. 18 (Lucca) are on the field. The brothers frequently laugh when they are equated to the famously fictional Hanson brothers from the popular 1977 comedy Slap Shot.
That started in high school at Malvern Prep. The brothers recalled a scrimmage against Choate Rosemary Hall of Wallingford, Conn., when Roman was scooping a ground ball and was hit from behind. Within seconds, Lucca came over and decked the kid.
“It’s an unspoken thing between us, no one is going to do anything like that to my brothers, and we all feel the same way,” Lucca said, laughing. “But that’s what started the thing with the Hanson brothers. Even in practice or a game, we always back each other up. If one is being messed with, they’re going to be dealing with all of us. We haven’t had anything like that so far in college, because Coach [Nick Cardile] would murder us if we got a flag over something like that.
“But in high school, it happened a lot.”
Tambroni has been at the helm for 16 years at Penn State, and says the DiBartolomeo brothers “are like triplets.”
“I know they are not triplets, but they spend a lot of time together, they speak the same language, it is a unicorn. It is a blessing in every sense. They are such a phenomenal family. It can go one of two ways. When you have three of them, multiply that by three in every direction.
“But these guys work hard, they’re great kids, they’re great teammates, it is a blessing in every sense of the word.”
Their unspoken ability to communicate also makes life easier for Penn State’s defense.
This season, the Nittany Lions have won with their offense. Penn State is No. 15 in the nation in scoring, with 180 total goals and No. 1 in the Big Ten, averaging 12.9 goals, and a leading 44% success rate on man-up opportunities.
What’s pushed the Nittany Lions over the top recently has been their defense.
They enter the NCAA Tournament riding a three-game winning streak. Penn State has not given up more than nine goals in any of its last four games.
“No. 1, the DiBartolomeos play with an edge,” Tambroni said. “We’re better defensively because of the edge that they play with. They just play hard. It’s what we want to recruit here at Penn State, a blue-collar essence and they have it in spades.
“The other dynamic is Lucca is the older brother, and he manages it like the older brother. He is really hard on them, and he can speak to them that only an older brother can..”
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The DiBartolomeos are well aware of Penn State’s history. They won Inter-Academic League titles at Malvern Prep. They captured Penn State’s first Big Ten championship since 2019.
What’s next?
“A national championship, it’s why we came here,” Lucca said. “It would mean even more being on that field with my brothers next to me.”