Continuing with our top 20 rankings ahead of next week’s season openers for Long Island high school lacrosse, we get to 13th ranked Comsewogue of Suffolk Class B. The Warriors have a rich history as they have made the playoffs for 33 consecutive years. Leading the way is longtime Head Coach Pete Mitchell who has guided them to back-to-back appearances in the Long Island Championship. Coach Mitchell describes his 2023 team as a hard working group with a lot of competition that has big game experience.
Looking to make it back to the Long Island Championship game for the third consecutive season, they will do so with a number of returning players that were integral to last season’s success. The offense will be spearheaded by senior Justin Bonacci the Stony Brook commit who will be playing attack and is one of their team captains this year. Bonacci had a dominant 2022 season, delivering 46 goals and 41 assists for 87 points which was the second most on the team and fifth overall on the island. Along side Bonacci as a key returner will be junior attackman Brayden Arias who saw the field as a sophomore and contributed with 15 goals.
The midfield unit sees the return of three upperclassmen in senior James Krieg (Fairfield) and juniors Dylan Rocchio and Ryan Button. Krieg who is also a team captain finished with 36 points, scoring 21 goals along with 15 assists. As sophomores Rocchio and Button played meaningful minutes and got a taste of playing on the big stage which will only further enhance their roles this year. Offensively Rocchio was a valuable young gun last year, tallying 23 points. Button excelled defensively providing physicality, toughness and made plays that may not always show up on the stat sheet but can ultimately be the difference between winning and losing.
The Warriors defense was major strength last season and will look to be one of the best on the island once again. They allowed only 7.8 goals per game and welcome back senior defensemen Vincent Indelicato (Adelphi), Ryan Fleshner who is a team captain, and Steven Soccochio. The defense will be playing in front of junior goalie Adam Wachholder (Marist) who had an unbelievable sophomore campaign with 183 saves and is arguably the best goalie on Long island in the class of 2024.
Although much of last year’s roster remains in tact, the Warriors did lose a handful of 2022 graduates including Michael Katz, Matt Sparhuber, Kevin Raddmann, Thomas Kennedy, and Kenny Summit. This opens the possibility for sophomore midfielder Doug Anacelli, sophomore defenseman Tyler Strohm, and freshman midfielder Connor Rocchio to potentially find themselves in the rotation this season.
Comsewogue’s season opener is scheduled for March 29th with a conference matchup against Rocky Point. Throughout the season some of their notable opponents both in and out of conference include Briarcliff (4/1), Wantagh (4/8), ESM (4/20), East Islip (4/24), Smithtown West (5/8), and West Islip (5/12).
