At number 23 in the LILJ top 24 preseason rankings in high school boys lacrosse are the Longwood Lions. Last season saw Longwood achieve a lot of things that made 2023 a success, including a 10 win season overall which is the most in the history of the program, and a Suffolk Class A playoff appearance and first round win against Bay Shore which hasn’t happened since 1995. After getting a taste of the playoffs the Lions can now enter this season with the expectations to make the playoffs for a second consecutive season.
The offense will be fueled by their top two scorers from last season with attackman Justin Silon (LIU) and midfielder Jayson Cardenas (St. John’s). Last season Silon found the back of the net 35 times with 19 assists for 54 points, and Cardenas scored 25 goals with 28 assists for 53 points. As Longwood looks to replicate last season, they’ll look for Colin Fitzgerald, Ryan Giambone (Maritime), and Eddie Wesche to be key contributors to the offense which averaged just under nine goals per game last year. Entering his sophomore season, midfielder Jerry Myler could see an increased role after making the team last year as a freshman. Stepping into the face-off role this season appears to be senior Vincent Rosario (American International) replacing Nick Miltenberger who was part of the 2023 graduating class.
On defense Longwood held opponents to fewer than 10 goals per game 11 times last year, and allowed an average of just over seven goals per game. They return defensemen Keith Kaiser (Plattsburgh), Jacob Milano (Pace), and freshman Frank Nocera. A huge part of the Lions stout defense was the play of 2023 graduate Sean Andreas in the net posting a near 60% save percentage. Coming into this season Longwood has goalies Jayden Messina and Dominic Rosselli on their roster, with Messina notching 20 saves in limited action last year.
The 2024 season brings plenty of anticipation around Longwood to see how they follow up the success they saw in 2023 which had them playing meaningful games all the way through season’s end.
