The Bay Shore Marauders are going to be a tough out in 2022. They are ranked eighth in the LILJ preseason rankings, and have already gave people a sneak preview of what this team can do in the LILJ High School Winter League, making it to the championship game. After going 11-3 last season and appearing in the Class A playoffs, they are now under new leadership with Mark Spruyt taking over as the head coach. Overall the team lost very few players from last season’s roster which means the chemistry should certainly be there. This year they are hoping to at the very least reach the semifinals which would be the first time in the history of the program. Coach Spruyt talked about the make-up of his team this season.
“This year the Marauders return 143 of their 158 goals scored during the 2021 season. This team has an abundance of senior leadership and returns 19 players from the 2021 season.”
One of those aforementioned leaders is senior attackman Will Danowski (Stony Brook). Danowski was All-County honorable mention and led the team with 30 goals a year ago to go along with 13 assists. Joining him on offense are midfielders Max Crane (UMass), Nate Nagengast (Cortland), and John Houlihan. Crane was Rookie of the Year and gave the team 17 goals. Nagengast was All-County and had 26 goals and seven assists for 33 points. Houlihan contributed with six goals and three assists.
Bay Shore has one of the top defenses in Suffolk County. As a team they gave up just 96 goals which was tied for the fourth fewest in all of Suffolk County. The leaders on their defense are All-League senior Chris Butler (Pace) and All-County Zach Rabin (Wesleyan). They combined to rack up 48 ground balls and cause 29 turnovers. They will be playing in front of two elite goalies, Cole Kluepfel and Nicky West. The duo consistently split time in the cage and both had a save percentage above 50%. Kluepfel is an outstanding communicator with the defense, and both goalies have the ability to make big saves in crunch time. Five of Bay Shore’s 12 wins were decided by a single goal. One key player from their defense who graduated in 2021 was Jake Demert who is currently playing collegiately at Brown.
Sophomore Dennis Hodge will be replacing Ethan Scully at the face-off X. Hodge will be going against some great face-off players across Suffolk County, but held his own in the winter league.
Bay Shore’s schedule will feature games against some teams that played them really tough last year. Some of these teams they got to play in the winter league such as Smithtown East and Ward Melville. Here are the notable matchups for the Marauders this season.
Bay Shore @ Comsewogue (3/24)
Northport @ Bay Shore (4/6)
Ward Melville @ Bay Shore (4/9)
Bay Shore @ Huntington (4/19)
Smithtown East @ Bay Shore (5/2)
The program has some notable alumni that went on to do big things at the collegiate level. A few of the all-time Bay Shore alumni are as followed:
Matt Coughlin 03′ (Goalie) – 2x HS All-American – NAVY
Jake Sheets 14′ (Attack) – 249 career points – Stony Brook
Kevin Caradona 88′ (Defense) – 2x HS All-American – NAVY
Doug Meehan 93′ (Midfield) – Georgetown
Matt Malakoff 01′ (Attack) – All-American – 212 Career Points – Notre Dame
Tom Roszko 89′ (Midfield) – All-American – NAVY/JHU
