Staying in Suffolk Class A for number seven in the LILJ top 24 preseason rankings, it’s the Northport Tigers who have found themselves in the Long Island Championship the past three seasons. Last year they were defeated in the LIC in a narrow 5-3 loss against Farmingdale, but are looking to once again stake their claim as the best team in Suffolk Class A and play for a shot at another LIC and possibly a state championship. The Tigers did graduate a number of players in the class of 2023, but still have plenty of key returning players and are now led by new Head Coach Billy Cordts.
Northport’s offense is ignited at attack by junior Ohio State commit Jack Deliberti who looked to be playing on a different level than most his sophomore season where he struck for 59 goals and 30 assists for a Toal of 89 points. As arguably the top attackman in the 2025 class, Deliberti is in line for another monster season as their top offense playmaker. Alongside Deliberti at attack is senior Tim McLam the Sacred Heart commit who added to this offense with 41 points of his own with 31 goals and 10 assists.
The Tigers midfield is backed by senior, Bryant commit Luca Elmaleh, senior Quinn Reynolds, junior Siena commit Logan Cash, and sophomore Luke Loiacono. The two seniors Elmaleh and Reynolds combined for 51 points last season, as Elmaleh did more of his damage as a goal scorer with 20 while Reynolds more of a distributor with 16 assists. Reynolds has also shown to be an impactful player with his ability to also play as a short-stick defensive midfielder. Cash found the back of the net 18 times with 5 assists last season, while Loiacono tallied 25 points on the season last year which included stepping up in a big way against Ward Melville in the playoffs with a five goal game. At the face-off X it will be junior Dylan Baumgarth the Dartmouth commit who enters his second season as their primary face-off specialist, where he’ll have good battles against opponents face-off specialists in the conference. Last season Northport’s offense was tied for fifth in goals per game in Suffolk County at 11.5.
Defensively is where they will look different this season after graduating many of their key defensemen last year that made them one of the top defenses in the county, but one of their returning poles is senior Giancarlo Valenti. After having the net protected by Michael Tittman last season, this year it appears to be Quinn Napolitano getting the nod as the starter in his senior year. In a small sample size Napolitano made 22 saves.
As Northport strives for a fourth straight trip to LIC, they will have multiple teams in the conference that will make it a very competitive race this season.
Billy Cordts is the Head coach.
Larry Cerasi is staying on as offensive coach.