No. 13 Ranked Massapequa Team Preview

Landing at number 13 in the LILJ top 25 preseason rankings is Massapequa of Nassau Class A. They enter the new season following a 10-9 record last year with a trip to the county championship where they were narrowly defeated by Farmingdale. Now they have a new leader at the helm with Kevin Catalano taking over as head coach. A team that is always in contention as one of the final four remaining in their conference, this year they are looking to get back to the county final and get over the hump and back to the Long Island Championship for the first time since 2019.

Massapequa’s offense which averaged just over eight goals per game last year sees the return of their top two leaders in points in sophomore Rocco Spallina and junior Tyler Byrnes (UMass) both at attack. As a freshman Spallina delivered in a big way with 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points, and will continue leave a major mark on this program for the next three years. Byrnes also had a big season last year as a sophomore with 21 goals and 19 assists for 40 points. Another one of their young guns at attack is sophomore Nolan Weiczorek who also burst onto the scene last year with 21 goals and 7 assists. At midfield is senior Joey Diesso (Adelphi) after a 28 point season scoring 17 goals and dishing out 11 assists. Among their other key returning offensive players includes senior Matthew Pettis (Albany), junior Braden Tucker and sophomore Luke Garguilo. The team will be without 2024 graduates Jack Garguilo, Joe Fazio who were two of their stating midfielders last season along with Aidan Stanton at the face-off X. Look for sophomore Kolby Roberts to be in play taking the face-offs this season.

On defense Massapequa sees the return of sophomore Justin Farrell and juniors Brady Gilchrist and Ryan O’Connor, but did lose Ryan Wieczorek in the 2024 graduating class who made a big impact on both ends of the field as an LSM. In the goal will be senior Michal Jannotte (Stevens) coming off of a 201 save junior year with a save percentage of 60%. The 201 saves was the third most across Nassau County.

The season opener will be on March 27th when they face the reigning Class B State Champions of South Side in a power conference matchup.