No. 4 Ranked Garden City Trojans Team Preview

At number 4 in the LILJ top 25 preseason rankings are the Garden City Trojans of Nassau County Class B. This is a team that year in and year out has high expectations for the program and this season they will be looking to rebound after being defeated in the county semifinals against Manhasset. At the helm is longtime head coach Steve Finnell, looking to bring this team back to championship status with an opportunity to win their third state championship in the last four years. This year the team will see the roles increase from some of their returning upperclassmen after seeing some of their key players from last year as part of the 2024 graduating class.

On the offensive end, their leading scorer among their returning players is junior Charlie Koester (Lehigh) who comes off of a big sophomore season with 27 goals and 15 assists for 42 points. In the senior class they return Dan Medjid (Holy Cross) after a 34 point junior year with 21 goals and 13 assists. One of their young guns who excelled on varsity last year as an eighth grader is Ben Smith who contributed with 15 goals and 7 assists for 22 points. Adding to their cast of returning players on offense is senior Michael Berkery (Villanova) and sophomore Anthony Asaro. This year they are without their top two leaders in points from last season in 2024 graduates Andrew Ottomanelli and Carson Kraus. At the face-off X is senior Luke Cascadden (Navy) who last year won 134 face-offs with a winning percentage of 71%. Also at the face-off X is sophomore Brayden Robertiello and in a small sample size won 67% of face-offs going 28/42 as well as junior Angelo Cupani (Merrimack).

The defense is something that has always been a strength and last year that trend continued as they allowed only 4.5 goals per game. They are without one of their key defensemen from last year Matt Kephart who was part of the 2024 graduating class, but return juniors Will Mattice (Holy Cross) and Chase Kraus and sophomore Gus Galli at long pole along with short-stick defensive midfielders Blake Cascadden (Cornell) and Owen Wuchte (Bucknell) in the senior class. As the team looks to replace 2024 graduate Denis Fargione, they return senior Jake Schlipf and welcome in senior Scotty Nelson (Adelphi) who transfers over from MacArthur. Both will compete for the starting spot.

To get the regular season started Garden City opens up with a non-league matchup against Ward Melville on March 29th, followed by their first league game in the power conference against Syosset on April 1st.