HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. (LISN) — Ward Melville won its opening game last season, 2-1 over West Islip, and won 4 more across the next 4 months. The other 15 went the other way, most of them badly: 56 goals scored, 118 allowed, 9th place in a division of 11.
The player who scored more of those goals than anyone is not on the 2026-27 filing, and neither is either goaltender. What is on it are the 2nd and 3rd-leading goal scorers from last season, a group of 18 that includes 3 brothers, and 3 players who spent last season on a Patchogue-Medford Varsity team that no longer exists.
Ward Melville opens against Sachem on Monday, Sept. 14, and finishes on Friday, Jan. 29 — the last game on the division’s regular-season calendar.
Last Season
5 wins, 15 losses. The wins were the 2-1 over West Islip on Sept. 15, a 5-4 over Middle Country 9 days later, 2 over Patchogue-Medford, and a 4-3 over Kings Park/Commack on Jan. 26 — that last one against a team that went on to knock the 3rd Seed out of the playoffs.
2 of the 5 came against Patchogue-Medford, and Patchogue-Medford is gone from the Varsity division this season. So is Middle Country, which supplied another. 3 of last season’s 5 wins came against teams Ward Melville will not play in 2026-27.
2 of the losses were worth keeping: 4-3 to East Islip on Nov. 3 and 4-3 to West Islip on Nov. 24, both by a goal, both against teams that finished above them.
Michael McFadden
Michael McFadden (8-9—17) is the leading returning scorer, and he has now put up numbers at 3 levels in 3 years: 12 goals and 29 points at the Freshman level in 2023-24, 9 goals and 30 points on Junior Varsity the next season, then 17 points in 20 Varsity games last winter.
He changes from No. 7 to No. 17 this season. His father, also Michael McFadden, is on the coaching staff.
The Forwards
T.J. Kaczorek (10-5—15) scored ten of the team’s 56 goals in 19 games, second on the roster behind Curley, and arrived on Varsity after 14 goals in 18 Freshman games the season before. A Timothy Kaczorek is also on the coaching staff.
Patrick Burke (4-8—12) did that in 13 games, 7 fewer than McFadden played. He has moved through 3 programs in 3 seasons — 16 goals and 31 points at the Middle Country Freshman level in 2023-24, 12 goals for Northport/Huntington Junior Varsity in 2024-25, then Ward Melville.
3 come up from Junior Varsity that scored more freely than the Varsity did. Blake Febbraro had 12 goals and 18 points in 9 Junior Varsity games and got into 2 Varsity games, scoring in one. Dominik Fischbach had 8 goals in 6 Junior Varsity games, after 12 goals at the Freshman level in 2023-24. Nolan Febbraro had 8 goals and 12 points in 19 Junior Varsity games and also played twice on Varsity.
From the freshman team come Jordan Knuth (4-6—10 in 17 games), Lorenzo Mongiovi (3-3—6 in 12) and Justin Lee, who has 3 straight seasons at that level.
The New Names
5 players on the filing spent last season somewhere other than Ward Melville, and 3 of them were on the same team. Jack Fauci played 18 varsity games for Patchogue-Medford and scored 3 goals; Kevin Samulik played 19 and Lider Montenegro 19 more. Patchogue-Medford went 0-20 and is not in the Varsity division this season.
Robert Laino comes from the St. Anthony’s Black Junior Varsity, where he scored 6 goals in 18 games, and Finn Howard spent last season on Smithtown/Hauppauge Junior Varsity after a year in the Ward Melville program.
Defense
Jake Inclan (1-3—4) played 19 Varsity games on the blue line and has 3 straight seasons in the program, going back to 10 assists at the Freshman level in 2023-24. Jace Harms played 16 Junior Varsity games last season and 2 Freshman seasons before that. Luke Donarummo played 13 Junior Varsity games and changes to No. 94.
In Goal
Both goaltenders who played last season are gone. Andrew Stempel appeared in all 20 games and Declan Heffernan in 13; neither is on the filing.
The net belongs to Andrew Febbraro, the third of the three brothers, and he has handled a lot of hockey to get here: 19 appearances at the Freshman level in 2023-24, 21 on Junior Varsity in 2024-25, 6 more last season. 46 games at his own level in three years is real work, and he arrives ready for the step up.
The Staff, and What’s Next
John Trapp is the head coach, with Anthony Cassara, Edward Eilenberger, Timothy Kaczorek, Michael McFadden and Thomas Mirabile on the staff and Michael Coyle managing. Captains have not been named.
The season opens Monday, Sept. 14, against Sachem and closes Friday, Jan. 29, against Smithtown/Hauppauge, the last game on the division’s regular-season calendar. The division is 12 this year, with Patchogue-Medford and Middle Country off the Varsity level and Eastport South Manor, Longwood and St. Mary’s added to it; Kings Park/Commack and Northport/Huntington are the only teams Ward Melville plays once. The quarterfinals are Feb. 1, the semifinals Feb. 3 and the final a best-of-three, Feb. 5-10. Every Ward Melville Varsity game streams on the LI Sports Network YouTube channel; the division standings update through the season.
Games to Circle
Mon., Sept. 14 — against Sachem. Opening night against a team that went 16-4 and finished third, and that lost its quarterfinal in overtime. Ward Melville won its opener a year ago.
Sun., Oct. 4 — against St. Mary’s. The first meeting with a program playing its first Varsity season, and one of three teams new to the division.
Wed., Nov. 11 — against Kings Park/Commack. The only meeting of the season, against the team Ward Melville beat 4-3 on Jan. 26 — the same Kings Park side that then beat the third seed in the quarterfinal.
Fri., Jan. 29 — against Smithtown/Hauppauge. The last game on the division’s regular-season calendar, against the team that finished first at 18-2 and reached the county final.
2026-27 Ward Melville Varsity Roster
| No. | Player | Pos. | 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Jake Inclan | D | Varsity, 1-3—4 |
| 10 | Jordan Knuth | F | Freshman, 4-6—10 |
| 11 | Justin Lee | D | Freshman |
| 13 | Patrick Burke | F | Varsity, 4-8—12 |
| 17 | Michael McFadden | F | Varsity, 8-9—17 |
| 23 | Jace Harms | D | JV |
| 27 | Timothy Kaczorek | F | Varsity, 10-5—15 |
| 29 | Andrew Febbraro | G | JV, 6 appearances |
| 32 | Blake Febbraro | D | JV, 12-6—18; 2 varsity games |
| 81 | Nolan Febbraro | F | JV, 8-4—12; 2 varsity games |
| 88 | Lorenzo Mongiovi | F | Freshman, 3-3—6 |
| 94 | Luke Donarummo | D | JV |
| 98 | Dominik Fischbach | F | JV, 8-4—12 |
| — | Jack Fauci | — | Patchogue-Medford Varsity, 3-1—4 |
| — | Finn Howard | — | Smithtown/Hauppauge Blue JV |
| — | Robert Laino | — | St. Anthony’s Black JV, 6-1—7 |
| — | Lider Montenegro | — | Patchogue-Medford Varsity |
| — | Kevin Samulik | — | Patchogue-Medford Varsity |
Numbers and positions come from the club’s 2026-27 roster filing; five players are listed on it without a number or a position. Scoring lines are goals-assists—points, from lihockey.com. Head coach: John Trapp. Staff: Anthony Cassara, Edward Eilenberger, Timothy Kaczorek, Michael McFadden, Thomas Mirabile. Manager: Michael Coyle.