LILJ Boys High School Winter League Championship Weekend Recap

Last weekend the 2024-25 LILJ Boys High School Winter League came to an end, wrapping up  five weeks of play at Stony Brook Indoor featuring eight different varsity level teams from across the island. The culmination of the weekend was the trilogy in the championship game featuring the storied rivals of Chaminade and St. Anthony’s where it was ultimately the Flyers being crowned champions for the third consecutive year.  Let’s rewind and recap all of the action from last Saturday and Sunday in the Boys High School Winter League!

Commack vs Ward Melville 

Opening up the boys slate on Saturday evening in the consolation bracket was a Suffolk Class A battle between the Cougars and the Patriots. This one was back and forth with neither team leading by more than two goals. Through the first half of play Commack held a slight 4-3 lead at the intermission. In the second half it continued to be back and forth and the two teams were tied at 5 with just over three minutes remaining when Ward Melville’s sophomore attacker Louis Montellese delivered the clutch go-ahead goal to put the Patriots in front 6-5 and they went on to win by that score. For the Patriots Ryan Connolly (Ithaca) tallied a hat-trick and Ben Ehlers (Wesleyan), and Jayson Halpin scored one goal each. At the face-off X Halpin was in command winning 7/9 face-offs. For Commack Dylan Spodek and James Pagano (Richmond) each scored once with one assist and Zach Fishman (Geneseo), Christian DeMartino, and Carter Clark added one goal each.

 

Huntington vs St. Anthony’s 2026

Game two on Saturday was a Suffolk vs Parochial matchup between the Blue Devils and the Friars. In a tightly contested game this one went in favor of Huntington as they held a 4-2 lead at halftime and outscored the Friars 4-3 in the second half for an 8-5 win. The Blue Devils saw a hat-trick from Tommy Kline (Loyola) and two goals from Colin Lennon (Siena) to lead them in scoring. Scoring one goal each for Huntington was the trio of Joseph Boeckmann, Luca Cuozzo (UMass) and Connor Fox. At the face-off X Cuozzo was 8-14. For St. Anthony’s Kristian Rodriguez found the back of the net twice and David Darling, Reid Johnston, and Patrick Buckley all scored once. At the face-off X Paul LoNigro won 6-11 face-offs for St. Anthony’s.

 

Hills vs Flyers

Playing for a spot in the championship game it was Hills against the reigning two time champion Flyers in what was the game of the night. Although the offense was at a premium the Flyers had the upper hand in the first half leading by a score of 4-1 through the first 20 minutes of play. The second half saw Hills score four unanswered goals to go from down three to up by one inside of five minutes remaining. With Chaminade needing a goal to force overtime they got just what they needed in the final 90 seconds as Will Ferraro-Reich (Richmond) delivered in the clutch to tie the game at 5-5. This one would go into overtime and on a turnover by Hills the ball was scooped off the ground by Gavin Lynch (Notre Dame) and he scored to give Chaminade the 6-5 win and keep their hopes of three-peat alive by sending them to the championship game. For Lynch it was his third goal of the game while Connor Kuttin (Hopkins) scored twice with one assist. In goal in the first half was Lukas Takvor (Hamilton) with a 50% save percentage and in the second half Ryan Cataldo was 67% on saves. Quinn Ball at the face-off X won 6/12 face-offs. Hills was led by Anthony Raio’s (UNC) hat-trick and James Bruno (Dickinson) and Luke Bradley each added one goal. Nico Ghicas (Air Force) was 5/10 at the face-off X and in the cage Sal Santoro (Pace) tallied six saves with a 50% save percentage.

 

Rust & Gold vs St. Anthony’s 2025

The second semifinal game of the evening was R&G vs the 2025s of St. Anthony’s for a spot in the championship game. The first half was evenly matched with the game all tied up at 5 through the first 20 minutes of play, but in the second half that was where the Friars gained control of the game, outscoring Rust and Gold 6-1 win by a score of 11-6 and advance to the championship game to face the Flyers. The Friars saw Dylan Harrigan (Maryland)  find the back of the net three times and dish out two assists for a five point game. Gio Massaro (St. Bonaventure) scored twice with one assist and Charlie Cacciabaudo (UNC) and Danny Rooney (Maryland) also scored twice. Adding one goal each for the Friars was Aidan O’Connell (Binghamton) and Parker McDonald (UNC). Dylan Rappaort (Loyola) was in the cage in the second half where he only allowed one goal and had a save percentage of 75%. Rust and Gold was led in scoring by Jack Salva (Merrimack) who scored a hat-trick and Ethan Bitran (Iona) struck for two pole goals with one goal scored by Rex O’Connor. At the face-off X Sam Bruno (Stevens) was 8/13 for a 61% winning percentage.

 

St. Anthony’s 2026 vs Commack

To open up the Sunday slate of games the Friars 2026s took on the Commack cougars in the consolation bracket. This game was controlled by the Friars as they jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first half snd went on to win by a score of 9-2. Paul LoNigro was in command at the face-off X winning 9/11 face-offs. Offensively Sean Ronayne scored twice and adding one goal each was David darling, Reid Johnston, Kristian Rodriguez, Patrick Buckley, Gavin Snyder, and Joseph Zakian. Jack Neary was in the cage for the Frairs and had a save percentage of 75% while long pole Ryan Lasko secured three ground balls. Commack’s two goals were scored by Thomas Grabow and Christian DeMartino, and defensively AJ Arizonis had a team high three ground balls.

 

Hills vs Rust & Gold

Game two on the evening was a battle between Hills and Rust and Gold in what was a shootout. The first half was controlled by Hills as they held an 8-3 lead at the half, but Rust and Gold had a second half surge, cutting the deficit to as close as two goals, but Hills was able to hold on winning by a score of 13-11. The duo of Zach Marco (Harvard) and James Bruno (Dickinson) each connected for four goals while Anthony Raio (UNC) scored twice and Daniel Chung, Luke Bradley, and Jeffrey Kleinmann all added one goal. At the face-off X freshman Colton Raio was 7/11 and senior Nico Ghicas (Air Force) was 3/4. Rust and Gold was led by the hat-trick from Quinn Reilly (High Point) followed by two goals each from Nick Henry (Manhattan) and Kevin Burns (Stevens). Danny Tuohy and Dylan Reilly each added one goal to round out the offense for Rust and Gold.

 

Huntington vs Ward Melville 

The Blue Devils and Patriots went head to head in a Suffolk Class A showdown. These two teams went down to the wire, but in the end it was Huntington pulling out a one goal win by a score of 8-7. Huntington held a 5-3 lead at the half while Patriots won the second half scoring 4-3. The Blue Devils saw a four goal game for Tommy Kline (Loyola) followed by two goals scored by Colin Lennon (Siena) and one goal each from Timmy McDonald (Siena)  and Luca Cuozzo (UMass). At the face-off X Cuozzo won 9/16 face-offs and in the cage in the second half Brennan Ackerman saved 50% of shots faced. On the other side Ward Melville’s Louis Montellese and Logan Ciniglio (Geneseo) each connected for two goals and adding one goal each was Jon Scott, Andrew Buscaglia, and Bohdan McLaughlin.

 

Flyers vs St. Anthony’s 2025

The stage was set and for the third consecutive winter it was the rivalry between Chaminade and St. Anthony’s for the winter league championship. The Flyers were going for the three-peat and in the first half after trailing 1-0 they jumped out to a 6-2 lead through the first 20 minutes of play. The offense was at a premium in the second half as St. Anthony’s scored two goals to the one scored by the Flyers, but the first half lead built by Chaminade was enough for them secure the win by a score of 7-4 to capture their third straight championship in the winter league! Scoring six of the Flyers seven goals was the duo of Quinn Ball (UPenn) and Gavin Lynch (Notre Dame) as they each tallied a hat-trick. Connor Kuttin (Hopkins) added a goal to round out the offense and at the face-off X Ball won 85% of face-offs going 6/7. George Mavlios (Rutgers) also added to Flyers dominance at the X winning 4/5 face-offs. In the cage for the Flyers Jack Durnan (Holy Cross) made eight saves with a 67% save percentage. For the Friars Alex Ruddy (Michigan) scored twice and Danny Rooney (Maryland) and Dylan Harrigan (Maryland) added one goal to round out the scoring for St. Anthony’s. The duo of Dennis Brady (Lynn) and Dylan Rappaport (Loyola) each played in the game with Brady recording nine saves in the first half for a 60% save percentage and Rappaport in the second half tallying five saves with a save percentage of 83%.

 

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