While intense competition typically has the potential to sow division, for one SJNY couple on the Brooklyn Campus, it was the thing that brought them together.
Nicholas LoPriniz ’17, a catcher for the Brooklyn Bears baseball team, recalls his days having to wait around on campus for baseball practice during the winter season. It was then when he first spotted who would become his future wife Victoria LoPrinzi ’19 (nee Porcasi), on the court as a guard for the women’s basketball team.
“When first I started to become interested in Victoria, I was kind of forced to because I had to sit and watch her basketball games since our practices didn’t begin until afterward,” Nicholas said laughing. “Me just being around was pretty much our first interaction.”
What started out as feeling mandatory quickly became his favorite thing to do once they began dating, as well as a core memory for Nicholas at St. Joseph’s — Watching and cheering on Victoria during her games.
“And I got to go to all of his baseball games as well,” Victoria shared. “We were really around the athletics scene a lot so the Hill Center was a really big place to hang out.”
SJNY student-athletes and sweethearts Nicholas LoPrinzi ’17 and Victoria Porcasi ’19.
Their competitive natures led to them bonding over one-on-one basketball games during common hour. That was until a bloody nose brought one match to an abrupt end.
“All his friends and my friends were watching. I pumped faked, he jumped, I hit him in the nose, drew the foul and still scored the basket. He’s still so mad about it,” Victoria said.
“My nose started bleeding and I had to go to the locker room, so I guess you can say she won that one,” Nicholas added.
The baseball team and women’s basketball team being friends made it easy for the two to spend time together, on and off campus, as they would often venture into the city for nights out.
“It was nice to have mutual friends,” Victoria continued. “The school is so small that you’re never missing anyone. We saw each other all the time so just through those interactions, our relationship grew.”
In fact, it was through those mutual friendships that resulted in their first date being a double date. Nicholas and Victoria, along with a close friend and a teammate went to dinner and a movie. The other couple might not have worked out, but Nicholas and Victoria went on to build a life together in the years that followed.
Today, the couple shares a home on Long Island with their two children. Nicholas works as an accountant and Victoria puts her child-study skills to good use as a fourth-grade teacher. And even though that competitive fire they had as athletes has not diminished, neither has their love, respect and support for one another.
The Proposal: Fireworks on the Fourth of July
As told by Nicholas LoPrinzi: “My dad always had a Fourth of July party so it was nice and secretive. She had no idea what was going on since she was planning to wear white anyway, which worked out pretty well. We had everyone there beforehand and laid flowers as a walkway to the backyard so once she arrived, it was pretty obvious what was going on.”
