LI Lacrosse Journal
March 10, 2026
3 min read
No. 8 Ranked Manhasset Team Preview
March 10, 2026
3 min read
The Manhasset boy’s lacrosse program has been amongst the upper echelon of the sport since its creation nearly 100 years ago, famously known as the first high school to form a varsity team back on Long Island in 1932. That’s quite a tradition to carry on in the modern day, and in recent years they’ve managed to not only sustain it, but extend it. Featuring back-to-back state championship wins in 2022 and 2023, Manhasset has proved they are very much still a premiere program in the entire state. But since then, the team has lost consecutive Nassau County Class B championships since their bump up from Class C, with the most recent defeat coming this past year against arch-rival Garden City. A blood-boiling end of the season has been on the program’s mind for a year, and in 2026 they’ll look to respond in a huge way under first year Head Coach Nick Armstrong.
Armstrong has a full cupboard of veteran talent to work with on offense in his inaugural season, welcoming back five of the team’s top seven in scoring in 2025. A seasoned group loaded with returning seniors, Manhasset’s scoring attack will revolve around attackmen Connor Sheerin (Hamilton), Marco Petruccelli (Harvard), and midfielder Tommy Leder (Middlebury) who each had notably strong junior campaigns. The unit should get a boost with a healthy Dylan Scheer added to the fold, who missed time last season and wasn’t a full 100% when he did see action. Senior midfielder Cooper Harley (Dickinson) and junior attackman Philip Palumbo also were very effective in their minutes played a season ago, rounding out quite a strong group that should provide stability on that side of the field. At the face-off X it will be Michael Beschel who will be tasked with getting the ball to the offensive unit. Manhasset’s defense is the true interest going into the 2026 season. Nick Armstrong served as the program’s defensive coordinator for 11 years prior to being promoted, and with a bulk of last year’s starting core back for another run, it isn’t crazy to speculate them having one of the best units in Nassau County. Reminder, this team allowed only a measly 7 goals per game in 2025. Senior defenseman Kip Zacharia (Lehigh) who returns from injury, Colin Kelly (Franklin & Marshall), and junior defenseman Michael DePietro (UMass) along with junior short-stick defensive midfielder Brady Smith are all pillars of Armstrong’s defense that should help the head coach adjust to his new CEO role rather quickly. They graduated key players from the Class of 2025 including Daniel Kolin, Henry Griffith, Kyle Melkonian, Doc O’Connor, Matt Enfranco, Arek Cellura and Lochlan Fitzpatrick, and are without transfer Beau Dillmeier, but Armstrong believes his experienced returning players should lead the way for this team in 2026, with an additional emphasis on getting some younger players up to speed as they look to be difference makers this season. “[We have to] lean on [our] veterans that have been with us for anywhere from 3-4 years. Need to develop younger guys into contributors as the season progresses. One game at a time mentality.” The proud Manhasset boy’s program is gearing up for another convincing season, opening up their schedule against Mamaroneck at home on March 21st.
