Belle Mastropietro, and her superstitions, could be the key to Temple’s NCAA Tournament aspirations in lacrosse

Temple lacrosse midfielder Belle Mastropietro is superstitious on game days.

During her freshman season, Mastropietro developed a pregame routine that is coming with her right into the 2023 season.

Mastropietro’s superstition begins with her socks. To start her routine, she will put her left sock on, followed by her right.

In the same order, she puts her cleats on. After she ties her cleats, Mastropietro’s roommate and teammate, Mackenzie Roth, braids her red hair.

When she gets on the field, Mastropietro enters the same warmup line for each game. At the end of warmups, Mastropietro and Roth always play catch.

“I did it one day, and I played well,” Mastropietro said. “So then I did it every day after that just to try to keep myself playing well.”

This superstition seems to have worked.

Mastropietro has developed into a premier player in the American Athletic Conference. In 2022, she won AAC midfielder of the year and was a unanimous first-team All-conference selection.

As a junior last spring, Mastropietro scored 44 goals and won 105 draw controls, which ranked first in the AAC.

Her superstitions are not the only reason for her success at Temple. Mastropietro’s hard work makes her trustworthy, particularly in late-game situations.

“Belle is just involved with every aspect of the game,” Temple coach Bonnie Rosen said. “When the game is on the line, she wants the ball. … To define Belle, it [is] often in those moments where she gets the ball in the attacking end [when] we need a goal, and she just kind of puts her foot into the ground and gets to [the] goal.

“Maybe gets knocked [over] and falls to the ground. And she gets the ball off and then finishes with a goal and a smile on her face.”

After each game and practice, Mastropietro watches film. An extra 15 minutes before practice, she’s out on the field, working on her stick skills.

Doing the little things outside of practice makes her a successful captain. Although Mastropietro is not the loudest on the field, her lead-by-example style resonates with her teammates.

“I see a lot of the background stuff that she does for the team,” Roth said. “She’s always pushing people to watch film. When we are at home, we are just chatting about lacrosse.”

Mastropietro was honored at the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association banquet on Jan. 23. Over the last two years, the former Springfield (Delco) High standout has captured the respect of her peers.

Outside of winning AAC awards, national recognition is attached to her name. However, Mastropietro is not worried about individual accolades.

In 2021, Temple made the NCAA Tournament and beat No.18 Massachusetts in the first round. In a few months, Mastropietro wants to win the AAC and go back to the NCAA Tournament.

Her grand plan to do it?

“Just being consistent and someone who’s always pushing everybody on our team,” Mastropietro said. “If we don’t get better in practice every single day, then we don’t win games, and we don’t make those goals.”

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Fifth-year captain Gabrielle Kirsch believes Mastropietro gives Temple an advantage on draw controls and provides offensive production.

“I think [Belle] is definitely going to step up [into] that strong dodger role to score a lot,” Kirsch said. “Kind of control the offense and the pace.”

Rosen said Mastropietro is one of the best players she has coached in her 17 years at Temple. The coach relies on Mastropietro’s competitiveness to make her team better at practices and games. No matter the situation, she relies on Mastropietro to step up.

“I look to her to set the tone in practice, in terms of our effort, our intensity, our execution,” Rosen said. “I look to her to be a leader for us all over the field. I look to her to set the tone in the locker room. I look for her to come and talk in the [coaching] office. Basically, she’s being asked to do as much as anyone can be asked because she’s earned that trust.”