The St. Anthony’s Friars Season Preview

HAUPPAUGE N.Y. — The St. Anthony’s Friars entered last season as the defending County and State Champions, this year they enter with something to prove. Head Coach Bob Lund is back behind the bench, as the most dominant program in recent memory attempts to return to the top. 

The defending SCHSHL champion Smithtown-Hauppauge Bulls won’t make it easy. The Bulls raised a banner after completing the reverse sweep against the Friars in the 2023-2024 County Finals. In many ways last year’s county finals was a rematch of the 2022-2023 Junior Varsity Finals, when St. Anthony’s took a 1-0 series lead over a Smithtown-Hauppauge that stormed back to win the series. 

It’s hard to win back-to-back titles, even more so to three-peat. Just ask Brady Monteleone. The Bulls are looking to take care of business, the Friars are looking to get even. This year’s roster has a chance to do so. 

Forwards 

Senior James Schendorf had a balanced 8 goals and 8 assists in 20 regular season games. The strong, two-way center went off with 1 goal and 3 assists in Game One of the SCHSHL Finals. Schendorf finished the playoffs tied for team lead in points with six. Schendorf played his best hockey of the season while centering James Aspromonti and Ryan Leon during the Friars playoff run. 

Senior Ryan Leon scored 3 goals and had 10 assists in 18 regular season games. Leon scored 1 goals in St. Anthony’s 5-0 quarterfinals win over Northport-Huntington before scoring 1 goal and adding 3 assists in Game One of the Finals.

Senior James Aspromonti, who finished the season on fire, scored 3 goals and added 7 assists in 17 regular season games. Aspromonti netted a hat-trick in Game One of the Finals 

Senior Joe Rocca, a speedy two-way winger, had 4 goals and 4 assists through 18 games. Rocca had 1 assist in 5 playoff appearances. 

Senior Anthony Scorcia racked up 4 goals and 3 assists through 10 games last season. Scorcia sustained an injury early in the season, before returning to play in four postseason games. 

Junior Tommy Azzariti had a dominant sophomore season, scoring 12 goals and 19 points in as many regular season games in 2023-2024. Azzariti had a team high 4 goals for St. Anthony’s in 5 playoff games. 

Junior Zack Sirel had 9 goals and 8 assists through 17 regular season games. The St. Anthony’s center has the ability to play with speed and skill, while playing a responsible, two-hundred foot game. Sirel had 1 goal and 3 assists in 5 postseason games. 

Senior Vito Sacino scored 16 goals and added 21 assists through 18 games for St. Anthony’s JV Black.  

Senior Will Bisogno led JV Black with 19 goals and 11 assists through 19 games for JV Black.

Junior Nick Busa scored twice as many goals (32) as games played (16) and finished the season with 42 points for St. Anthony’s JV Gold. 

Junior Mauricio Carasco Jr. scored 5 goals and picked up 11 assists in 15 appearances for JV Gold. 

Junior Anthony Cutalo scored 6 goals and added 8 assists for the Long Island Gulls 15-U AAA team last year in the Northeast Pack (NEPACK). Cutalo also scored 7 goals and added 2 assists in 9 games for the P.A.L. Junior Islanders 15U AAA team in the Tier 1 Hockey Federation (THF). 

Defense  

Senior Brody O’Doherty scored 8 goals and added 9 assists in 18 regular season games. The dynamic defenseman was a mainstay of the top pair for the Friars. O’Dogerty potted 1 goal and added 1 assist in 5 playoff games.  

Senior Cormac Terry had 2 goals and 8 assists in 19 regular season appearances. A strong two-way defenseman, Terry had 2 assists in 5 playoff games. 

Senior Michael Catizone, a 2023-2024 SCHSHL All-Star, scored 6 goals and garnered 3 assists in 16 regular season contests. Catizone is a gifted offensive defenseman, who had 1 assists in 5 playoff games. 

Senior Daniel Cevallos, a defensive defenseman, had 4 assists in 19 regular season games. Cevallos played big minutes during the Friars playoff run.  

Junior Christian Buttacavolli scored 8 goals and had 17 points in 17 games for JV Gold. 

Sophomore Joe Miklitsch had 2 goals and 1 assists in 15 games for JV Black. 

Goaltending 

Senior Nick Tempone is a strong starter with the ability to make the big time saves. The Friars workhorse went 6-9-1 with a 3.94 GAA in 16 games for JV Black last season. Tempone went 2-0 with a .50 GAA in 2 starts for JV Gold last season.

Senior Dom Fieler went 7-6 in 13 starts for the P.A.L. Junior Islanders 16U AA team in the Atlantic Hockey Federation (AHF) last year. Fieler posted a 1.99 GAA and .924 SV% and is rostered on the P.A.L. Junior Elite team in the USPHL for the 2024-2025 season. 

Junior Jordan Valcich has spent the last 5 seasons with the Long Island Gulls. Valcich is currently rostered on the Gulls 16U AAA team in the NEPACK. Valcich had a 3.01 GAA and a .904 SV% at U.S. 15U Nationals, where he went 3-2 in 5 starts.