Six months ago, the St. Anthony’s Friars skated away with the ultimate prize: a Suffolk County championship. On September 16, they will commence their efforts to defend that title, while every team in the county will be gunning to take them down.
The Friars will take the ice that Friday evening during the opening week of Suffolk County High School Hockey’s 50th official season. They will match up against the Kings Park – Commack Knights, a rematch of last season’s semifinals. The last team to repeat as champions was the Smithtown – Hauppauge Bulls in 2016 and 2017.
Leading the charge for the Friars this season: returners senior Nicholas D’andrea and junior Brady Monteleone. Senior Jack Dlugos will be tabbed as captain again. And championship MVP, senior goaltender Ryan Burhart, is back in the net and ready for business.
The reigning NY State Champs will be a formidable squad once more, having made it all the way to Nationals last year. The Knights finished third in the Suffolk standings, but appear to be the biggest force standing in the Friars’ way of repeating.
Looking to work around the loss by way of graduation of prolific scorer Brent Tinschert, who had 33 points last season, the Knights will return much key talent. This includes: senior Peter Abazis, senior William Prange, and senior Joseph O’Neil.
On their opening night, September 12, the Northport – Huntington Tigers will take to the ice against the Middle Country Cougars. The Tigers come off an undefeated season, but just fell short of the ultimate championship goal.
Their losses: league-leading scorers Blake Hanson and Carmine Pittelli, as well as head defenseman Michael Meyer. Derek Macholz, another strong offensive presence, has departed, as well as captain Jack Breckling.
Five players from the undefeated Tigers will return for this season as they look to finish the job this time. The group will be headlined by senior goaltender Angel Spinnelli as they look for him to step in and take the lead starting role. In terms of skaters, senior Tyler Paragallo will be looked to take the next step and make up for some of the scoring lost in the graduating class.
A team to look out for this year will be the Sachem Ice Hockey Club. Finishing eighth last season, they had a strong showing in the opening round of the playoffs, but ultimately fell to a great Northport team. They will be gaining elite scoring talent in juniors Thomas Konkowski, Colin Kalberer, and sophomore Christopher O’hea. The trio combined to score 108 of the 182 goals scored by the Sachem JV team last season, so look for this line to be a force.
A matchup to look out for will be Sachem vs St. Anthony’s on Wednesday, September 28, as the rising powerhouse looks to make a statement against the defending champs. It will be a great early test to see where Sachem truly sits in the league.
Later in the season, on Wednesday, November 2, another semifinal rematch will take place between Northport and the Connetquot – Sayville T-Birds. Connetquot also lost a lot of players including Colin Beisel, Kenny Corrao, Justin Young, and goaltender Joseph Walsh, but were able to retain key defenseman Mateo Marchese. Connetquot will look to show they still have what it takes to make it to the finals with a statement matchup in this game.
There is still a small draft to be held of kids that do not reside in schools with teams, so rosters can change from the talent pool that will be made available a week prior to the season.
Every game of the 2022-23 season can be watched live on YouTube on LI Sports Network’s channel. Tune in!
