No. 19 Ranked Islip Buccaneers Team Previews

Making our way inside the top 20 of the LILJ top 25 preseason rankings the Islip Buccaneers come in at number 19. It was an 8-7 season in 2024 which did not qualify them for the postseason in Suffolk Class C, but the majority of their team is back for the 2025 season in a conference that is very much up for grabs. With a number close defeats last year, this year they’ll look to turn those losses into wins which would put them in an excellent position to be in the playoffs with a chance for a playoff run.

The Buccaneers offense sees the return of their attackmen Jack Rao (Hofstra), Matt Trovato, Jack Whitehouse (LIU) and Jack Halpin. All four had extremely productive seasons with Rao putting together a 21 goal, 20 assist season, Trovato scoring 18 goals with 18 assists, Whitehouse going for 24 goals and 15 assists, and Halpin scoring 25 goals dishing out 12 assists. At the midfield they return Jake DeGennaro (LIU) who struck for 28 goals with 7 assists his junior year, rounding out an overall well balanced group of returners that gives their offense a variety threats on the field.

On the defensive end of the field their returning poles include senior Bryant commit Erik Heimlich, senior Callahan Zusi (Springfield) and young gun Jack Gardner in the Class of 2028 who now enters his second year on varsity. In the goal for his senior season is Mikey Vitale (Mercy) returning after tallying 110 saves with a save percentage over 56%. As a team their defense allowed slightly above seven goals per game in 2024.

Islip’s season opener will be on March 24th when the face Port Washington in a non-league matchup, followed by a second non-league game against Connetquot on March 28th. They open up league play against another Class C contender Kings Park on April 2nd.