One of Long Island’s most successful high school programs the Farmingdale Dalers land at No. 11 in our top 20 rankings. Every year since 1974 they have found themselves in the playoffs and this season looks to be no different. After being defeated in the Nassau Class A Semifinals a year ago the Dalers have high hopes of getting over the hump and competing for a county title, LIC, and state championship. Head Coach Mike Hungerford will rely on large group of returning seniors and upperclassmen to bring this team to championship level status.
With so many returning players in the fold this year the Dalers should have plenty of familiarity and chemistry. At attack three of their upperclassmen that they will expect a lot of production from are senior Jake Norton and juniors Caden Lennon (Bryant) and Brendan O’Keefe (Albany). Lennon put together a sophomore season that saw him contribute with 13 goals and he had a phenomenal summer at events such as the National Lacrosse Invitational and the LI Summer Showdown which should only provide more confidence in his game going into this season. Like Lennon O’Keefe was a contributor as a sophomore with seven goals and seven assists and also had a breakout summer which will likely lead to a big 2023 spring season. This trio is going to have to come up big with the loss of 2022 graduates Ryan Woodland and James Hicks.
The Dalers midfield will feature captain Matt Cangelosi (LIU), Tomaso Ramos, Chris Bergersen (Mercy), James Goodrich, and Sal Posillico. In addition to these five returning midfielders they also welcome back Dillon Mehta (Albany) the former St. Anthony’s Friar who has transferred back to the Dalers. The face-offs will be taken by the Binghamton commit and team captain CJ Mangio, giving them an excellent chance to have the advantage at the X more times than not.
Shifting to the Daler defense, this was their calling card in 2022 and will once again be a strength in 2023. They return defensemen Matt Pantorno a team captain (Manhattan), Joe Bleck, and Trevor Gayron another team captain who’s converted from a midfielder to a long pole. Removed from their defensive core are 2022 graduates Anthony Bilello and Jordan Smikle, but goals will once again be hard to come by for opposing teams with the combination of junior Jimmy Caputo and senior Michael Ippoloti (Syracuse) who comes over from St. Dominic as another transfer. It was midway through the season last year when Caputo stepped in for the injured Danny Seaman and filled in admirably, racking up a total of 50 saves. Statistically the Dalers only allowed 4.7 goals per game.
Coach Hungerford will soon find out once tryouts end this week if there will be any young guns that could be in the fold this season, but says that he has several impressive freshmen and sophomores in the program.
The Dalers season opener will be March 28th in a non-league showdown against Cold Spring Harbor. Some of their noteworthy opponents in the conference who they will be jockeying for playoff positioning with include Port Washington (4/19), Syosset (5/3), and Massapequa (5/17).
