The East Islip Chiefs Season Preview

HAUPPAUGE N.Y. (LISN) — The 2023-2024 East Islip Chiefs were always destined for greatness, it just came later than they hoped. East Islip’s title hopes were dashed by the Smithtown-Hauppauge Bulls, who handed the Chiefs a 4-3 loss in the Quarterfinals. It was the latest in a series of blows that began in the fall of 2023, when Chiefs star Ryan Anatra went down with an injury, but to quote Rocky Balboa, “it ain’t about how hard you can get hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” The Chiefs kept moving forward, defeating the Smithtown-Hauppauge Bulls in the NYSAHA State Title Game in Saugerties. The Chiefs went to Nationals, the Bulls went home. 

Head Coach Chris Reinheart’s squad will look different this season after the graduation of a strong senior class headlined by Ryan Anatra, Brody Dickson, Thomas Ivers, Anthony Pepe and Bryan Slattery — just to name a few. Alex Carino is the captain. Evan LaFata and Jack Dolson are the team’s leading scorers. It’s a young, talented group with the chance to surprise this year. 

The Forwards 

The aforementioned captain, Senior Alex Carino, was asked to do a little bit of everything last year. Carino is a strong 200 foot player with the chance to pop with more opportunities on the power play. 

Junior Evan LaFata is the early favorite to center the top line after a dominant JV campaign in 2022-2023 before scoring 8 goals and adding 5 assists in 19 games last season. 

Junior Jack Dolson lined up at all five spots for EI last season. Dolson scored 4 goals and added 6 assists in 18 games in 2023-2024. Like LaFata, Dolson was dominant at the JV level two years ago. 

Senior Niko Stavropoulos scored 5 goals and had 4 assists in 19 JV games in 2023-2024. Stavropoulos also had a strong showing in two varsity games last season.  

Senior Tyler Wichert scored 6 goals and added 3 assists in 19 JV games in 2023-2024. 

Junior Tierney Recenello scored 25 goals in 18 games last year and finished with 40 points. Recenello garnered 1 assist in two varsity outings in 2023-2024. 

Junior Logan Barton scored 6 goals and added 5 assists in 18 JV games in 2023-2024. Barton led EI in playoff points with 1 goal and 2 assists. 

Sophomore Peter Marazzito had a balanced 9 goals and 9 assists in 18 JV games last year. Marazzito scored his first career varsity goal on December 6 in an 8-3 win against Ward Melville. Marazzito’s goal, which came in his second career varsity game, was assisted by Recenello. 

Sophomore James Walsh scored 10 goals and added 7 assists in 18 JV games last season. Walsh scored 2 goals in as many playoff games 

Freshman Landon Musumeci scored 26 goals and added 12 assists in 20 freshman games in 2023-2024. 

Musumeci scored 4 goals and had 2 assists in the playoffs where EI were swept by Sachem in the Freshman Finals. 

Freshman Jack Fontaine scored 26 goals and added 8 assists in 17 games during 2023-2024. Fontaine scored 5 goals and added 1 assist in the playoffs . 

Freshman Ryan Bradley scored 20 goals and added 12 assists in 17 games. Bradley scored 3 goals and had 4 points in the playoffs. 

Defense

Junior Kieran Freelin scored 2 goals and added 2 assists in 20 varsity games last season. 

Junior Chris Lawlor starred for East Islip’s JV team two years ago, before scoring 1 goal and adding 2 assists in 14 varsity games in 2023-2024.

Senior Blake Unverzagt is a defensive defenseman who scored 1 goal and added 3 assists in 18 JV games last season.  

Junior Emmet Gillar scored 2 goals in 17 JV games last season and saw action in 2 varsity contests. 

Junior Brady Reinheart had 2 goals and 3 assists in 17 games for St. Anthony’s JV Black in 2023-2024. 

Sophomore Sean Damian scored 6 goals and added 10 assists in 20 games freshman games in 2023-2024. 

Goaltending 

Senior Patrick O’Shea went 7-3-1 in 11 JV starts last year, posting a 3.71 GAA. O’Shea allowed 1 goal in a strong showing against Kings Park-Commack in the JV Quarterfinals before Smithtown-Hauppauge defeated East Islip in the semis. Junior Dario Baerga went 7-2 in 9 JV starts last season. Baerga had a GAA of 2.42. 

Coaching Staff And Captains

Reinheart is joined by assistant coaches Rob Bentrewicz, Nick Campo, and Anthony Musumeci along with Goalie Coach Erik Miklich. The Captain, Alex Carino, is joined by assistant captains Jack Dolson, Evan LaFata and Chris Lawlor.