HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. (LISN) — Benjamin Caraher scored with 12:56 left in the second period against Smithtown/Hauppauge on Feb. 11. Nobody scored after him. St. Anthony’s won 2-1, took the series in three games and won the county for the second year running.
Five weeks later, they beat Long Beach 3-2 for the Long Island Championship. Thomas Azzariti scored twice, the second with 12:05 to play, and Long Beach got one back six minutes later and no closer. The year before, St. Anthony’s had lost that same game 3-2 to Bellmore-Merrick.
Azzariti has graduated. So have Zack Sirel and Anthony Cutalo. The three of them finished last season tied for the team lead on 43 points each, and between them they scored 76 goals. Jordan Valcich, who started 21 of the 26 games in net, is gone too.
Last Season
Three teams beat St. Anthony’s in the regular season. East Islip did it 3-2 on Oct. 8 on a goal with 16 seconds left. Sachem won 6-2 on Jan. 5. Smithtown/Hauppauge won 5-3 on Jan. 28. Middle Country tied them 3-3 on Nov. 7, the only game St. Anthony’s played all season that finished level.
The other 16 they controlled. They scored 131 goals and allowed 45, the second-fewest in the division, and held opponents to a goal or none eight times, with four shutouts.
Then the playoffs turned into a month of one-goal hockey. They beat Connetquot/Sayville 2-1, Northport/Huntington 3-2, and Smithtown/Hauppauge 6-5 in the first game of the final. They lost the second 2-1. They won the third 2-1. All five came down to a goal, and so did the Long Island Championship in March.
Gone with Azzariti, Sirel and Cutalo: Anthony Sorrentino (26 points), Cristian Buttacavoli (18), Ryan Riggins (17), Mauricio Carrasco Jr. (14), Nicholas Busa (11), Peter Kelly, defenseman Jake Nichols, and both goaltenders, Valcich and Benjamin Bonadio. That group scored 105 of the team’s 147 goals.
Christopher Kancza
Kancza has the most points of anyone coming back, 17 on four goals and 13 assists, and he played 25 of the team’s 26 games.
Most of what he did was set up the three players who are no longer here. He assisted on Cutalo’s goal in the first period of the county clincher, the one that opened the scoring before Caraher won it. He took 22 penalty minutes.
He came up through the program: the Freshman team in 2023-24, the Junior Varsity in 2024-25, then his first Varsity season last year. He moves to defense this season after a year at forward.
The Forwards
Caraher (F, 9-5—14) has more goals than any forward returning, and the biggest one of the season. He also played 25 of the 26 games and did not take a penalty in any of them.
Dominic Tartaglia (F, 7-6—13) is next. He set up Justin Norris for the first goal of the quarterfinal against Connetquot/Sayville, and he took 16 penalty minutes across 23 games.
Daniel Smith (F, 7-4—11) moves up to the forward group this season after a year on the blue line, where he scored seven times, as many as Tartaglia and more than any returning forward except Caraher.
Dylan Schlicht (F, 5-3—8) played 23 games without a penalty minute. Behind those three the roster turns over almost entirely, and the group coming up scored a great deal at its own level. Logan McCauley had 22 goals and 41 points in 20 Freshman games last season. Jake Evans had 16 goals and 33 points in 15. Andrew Cevallos put up 13 goals and 31 points in 16 Junior Varsity games, and Nicholas Lawlor scored 18 goals and put up 31 points in 21, after 13 points the season before. Jason Matuza scored 17 goals and 29 points in 19 Junior Varsity games, up from seven points the year before.
Jack Hurlbert had 12 goals and 19 points in 23 Junior Varsity games, up from 12 points the season before. Kenneth Engelhardt has three seasons behind him: 17 points in 15 Junior Varsity games last year, 14 the year before, 18 at the Freshman level in 2023-24. Nicholas Mueller had nine goals and 17 points in 21 Junior Varsity games; he came from Middle Country’s Freshman team two seasons ago. None of them has played a Varsity game for St. Anthony’s.
Ryan Santini, who dressed once on Varsity here last season, is on Northport/Huntington’s roster for 2026-27.
Defense
Three defensemen come back who played 64 games between them last season, and Kancza moves across to join them. Joseph Miklitsch (D, 3-9—12) played 24 games and assisted on Cutalo’s winner in the quarterfinal.
Justin Norris (D, 4-4—8) played 25 of the 26 games. Leo Stiuso (D, 3-8—11) got his 11 points in 15 games, the best rate of the three.
Patrick Darby comes up from Junior Varsity, where he scored 10 goals and 21 points in 13 games last season after six points in 17 the year before. He played the 2023-24 Freshman season at Northport/Huntington. Anthony Catizone joins him on the blue line after 12 goals in 20 Junior Varsity games and 18 points for Kings Park/Commack’s Freshman team the season before.
In Goal
Valcich started 21 of the team’s 26 games. St. Anthony’s allowed 45 goals in the 20-game regular season. Replacing that is the hardest job here.
Gaetano Sacino (G) started 15 games for Junior Varsity last season and dressed for seven more on Varsity as Valcich’s backup. He has a full Junior Varsity season of starts behind him, and a year of watching the goalie who won the county.
Christopher Urso (G) dressed once on Varsity and has Junior Varsity seasons behind him. One of the two takes the net in September.
The Staff, and What’s Next
Bob Lund is the head coach, with Joseph DeLuca and Alexander Lund on the staff. Joey Miklitsch has been named Captain, while Ben Caraher and Leo Stiuso will wear “A”s. St. Anthony’s opens Wednesday, Sept. 16, against Smithtown/Hauppauge, the team they beat in three games for the county, and closes Monday, Jan. 25, against Connetquot/Sayville, whom they beat 2-1 in the quarterfinal. The division is twelve teams this season, with Patchogue-Medford and Middle Country gone and Eastport-South Manor, Longwood and St. Mary’s added; the quarterfinals are Feb. 1, the semifinals Feb. 3, and the final a best-of-three from Feb. 5 to 10. Every St. Anthony’s Varsity game streamed on the LI Sports Network YouTube channel last season, including the Long Island Championship, and every game will stream again this year; the team page and the division standings update through the season.
A hundred and five goals graduated in June, and so did the goaltender. Four defensemen come back who have played a great deal of Varsity hockey, along with the forward who scored the goal that won the county and the player who assisted on ten of the graduating group’s goals. Behind them is a Junior Varsity and Freshman group that scored 141 goals and 261 points between them last season. St. Anthony’s has finished first or third in the division in each of the last three years. How quickly that group turns into Varsity players decides whether they do it again.
Games to Circle
Wed., Sept. 16: Smithtown/Hauppauge. The season opens against the team St. Anthony’s beat in three for the county. Smithtown/Hauppauge won the middle game 2-1; St. Anthony’s took the other two, the last on Benjamin Caraher’s goal on Feb. 11. Smithtown/Hauppauge finished first in the division at 18-2 and had beaten St. Anthony’s 5-3 in the regular season.
Sun., Sept. 27: Northport/Huntington. The semifinal St. Anthony’s won 3-2 in February, and a first look at Ryan Santini, who dressed once on Varsity here last season and is on Northport/Huntington’s roster now.
Mon., Nov. 9: East Islip. One of only three teams to beat St. Anthony’s in the regular season, 3-2 on Oct. 8 on a goal with 16 seconds left.
Mon., Jan. 25: Connetquot/Sayville. The schedule closes against the quarterfinal St. Anthony’s won 2-1, Justin Norris scoring the first goal. It was Connetquot/Sayville’s third straight exit in that round.
2026-27 St. Anthony’s Varsity Roster
| No. | Player | Pos. | 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gaetano Sacino | G | JV, 15 starts; Varsity backup |
| 6 | Jack Hurlbert | F | JV, 12-7—19 |
| 7 | Dylan Schlicht | F | Varsity, 5-3—8 |
| 14 | Christopher Kancza | D | Varsity, 4-13—17 |
| 15 | Leo Stiuso | D | Varsity, 3-8—11 |
| 17 | Joseph Miklitsch | D | Varsity, 3-9—12 |
| 19 | Patrick Darby | D | JV, 10-11—21 |
| 23 | Logan McCauley | F | Freshman, 22-19—41 |
| 24 | Jason Matuza | F | JV, 17-12—29 |
| 29 | Nicholas Lawlor | F | JV, 18-13—31 |
| 30 | Christopher Urso | G | Varsity, 1 GP |
| 35 | Daniel Smith | F | Varsity, 7-4—11 |
| 47 | Anthony Catizone | D | JV, 12-6—18 |
| 61 | Dominic Tartaglia | F | Varsity, 7-6—13 |
| 77 | Justin Norris | D | Varsity, 4-4—8 |
| 82 | Andrew Cevallos | F | JV, 13-18—31 |
| 87 | Kenneth Engelhardt | F | JV, 9-8—17 |
| 92 | Nicholas Mueller | F | JV, 9-8—17 |
| 95 | Benjamin Caraher | F | Varsity, 9-5—14 |
| 97 | Jake Evans | F | Freshman, 16-17—33 |
Head coach: Bob Lund. Staff: Joseph DeLuca, Alexander Lund. Numbers and positions come from the club’s 2026-27 roster filing, which gives no class years, so none appear here. Scoring lines are goals-assists—points for skaters and starts for goalies, from LIHockey.com; records and division ranks are regular season.