Hailing from Suffolk Class A at number eight in the top 24 preseason rankings are the Half Hollow Hills Thunderbirds. This team is squarely in contender status to potentially come out of Suffolk County with a lot of their talent having grown and developed the past few seasons on varsity and now return as upperclassmen. Last year they were defeated by Northport in the quarterfinals but return ready for a deep run in 2024. Led by Head Coach Connor Hagans, Hills has plenty to be excited about this season, and coach Hagans shared what the keys to their success will be.
” There is no tomorrow.” We have been putting in a lot of work in this offseason trying to build on the success of last year. We return a large number of players who have multiple years of varsity experience.We have high expectations for this year and this team. Excited to see the growth of the players from last year to this year, in terms of size, strength, and ability. Since most of the team was either sophomores or freshmen, this is the year they take a big step forward. Keys to success are being fundamentally sound on both sides of the ball while playing fast and doing the things we do well. If we take care of the little things we will put ourselves in a good position to be successful.”
Leading the Thunderbirds is their UNC bound midfielder Anthony Raio who is one of the elite players in the 2025 class not just on the island but in the country, between his cannon of a shot, silky smooth all around offensive game and his defensive play as a two-way midfielder. Last season he dominated as a sophomore with 60 goals and 30 assists for 90 points and is in line for another huge season as a junior after giving a preview this winter of what’s to come this spring with his 24 points in six games in the LILJ HSWL. The midfielders around Raio include senior Bryant commit Zach Marco, and juniors Luke Bradley and Ryan Chung. Marco was good for 21 points last season while Ryan Chung recorded 15 and is also going to have an impact at the face-off X. Also at the face-off X is junior Air Force commit Nico Ghicas which gives Hills a top tier tandem of FOGO’s which is a luxury not many public schools can say they have. One young gun middie to look out for to potentially see valuable minutes is sophomore Daniel Chung who got plenty of opportunity this winter in the HSWL.
At attack for Hills their top returning attackman is junior James Bruno who found the back of the net 26 times with five assists for 31 points. In the senior class is Justin Genatt who will increase his production this year after an 11 point junior season in 2023. The Thunderbirds were prolific on the offensive end last season and will be one of the top offenses in Suffolk County after averaging just under 12 goals per game last year. In the sophomore class Chris Nolan could be in play this season to also see impactful minutes at attack.
Defensively it starts with junior Syracuse commit Joe Filardi who is one of the elite pure athletes on the island and is a long pole that is also a serious threat to score goals. He didn’t shy away from doing damage on the offensive side of the field last season with 15 goals and 10 assists for 25 points. The Thunderbirds also return key defensemen in junior Ben Vogt and sophomore Sal Caiazzo playing in front of the junior Sal Santoro in the net. Santoro racked up the saves last year with 148, and in the winter league was nothing short of a brick wall with 52 saves and a 60% save percentage in six games.
This is the season that Hills hopes they can take that next step in the playoffs as this collection of talent returns as seasoned veterans ready to make serious noise in a very competitive Suffolk Class A.
