The MacArthur Generals are coming off of a 9-5 season and their first final four appearance in over 20 years. They were defeated by Carey in the Nassau Class B semifinals, but have a lot of seniors who are hungry for more in their final season. The team is led by Head Coach John Nessler and he shared how he views his team going into the 2022 season.
“Senior heavy group that has put the work in. Led us to our first Final Four last year. Very balanced team from top to bottom. Features 9 committed players as of now.”
This year the attack unit will be led by seniors Vin Butrico (Marist), John Rebaudo (Seton Hill), James Hegel. Midfielders James Napoli, Matthew Papach (Wingate), Pat Cheswick, Rocco Hogan are all returning this season as well. Last season their offense scored at least 10 goals nine times and averaged 10.5 goals per game.
On defense the team will be led by senior defensemen Ryan Larkin and Luca Runyan (Adelphi) and junior defenseman Michael Cassano. The Generals had a very stout defense last year that allowed just under 10 goals per game. If the defense has the success that they had last year, expect them to be in a lot of games this season with a great opportunity to win north of 10 games.
Three key players that they lost from last year’s team are defenders Brody Wynn, and Matt Schwan, and midfielder Gabe Bauer. Their presence will be missed, but two young guns that could potentially see the field this year are midfielders Ryan Fitzgerald and Ryan Larkin.
The Class B division is filled with tough opponents that will be on the schedule for MacArthur this season. Some notable games include, home against Garden City (5/6), home against Calhoun (5/11), and home against Carey (5/14). They also play at Port Washington (4/5) in what is a tough non league matchup.
Throughout the last 20 years MacArthur has seen a a lot of their players go on to have great collegiate careers at some of the elite colleges across the country Here are some notable alumni that once wore the MacArthur uniform.
Jon Birsner- Navy (2002)
Nick Tintle- North Carolina (2004)
Scott Rodgers- Notre Dame (2005)
Steven Waldeck- Stony Brook (2006)
Tom Celentani- UMass (2008)
Brendan Smith- Limestone (2013)
Gerard Cunningham- Adelphi (2013)
Anthony Galeotafiore- LIU Post (2013)
Michael Papach- Adelphi (2015)
AJ Lohmuller- Wingate (2018)
Jack Kipnes- Mercy (2018)
Hugh Kelleher- Cornell- (2020)
