HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. (LISN) — There were 9 seconds left in the 1st Period against Patchogue-Medford on Nov. 3 when Jonathan Grande scored on the power play. It was West Islip’s 3rd goal of the night, 3 in one period from a team that had scored 7 in its first 7 games, and it is the one the sheet carries as the winner. West Islip won 4-2, the first win of the season.
That night split the year in two. Over the last 13 games, West Islip scored 38, won 3 times, and played 3 of their last 8 games past regulation. Every one of their 4-goal nights came in that stretch, and so did all 3 wins.
Most of what drove that is still here. 21 of the 45 goals return, along with 7 of the 11 the team scored on the power play and 3 of the 4 it scored a man down. Grande is back, and so is Tyler Sapoff, who took the majority of the starts in goal. 10 of the 16 players on the 2026-27 filing played Varsity last season, and the other 6 all come up through the West Islip program.
Last season
West Islip finished 3-17 in the 20-game regular season, 45 goals for and 146 against. They have played Varsity in each of the last 3 seasons, going 5-14-1 in 2024-25 and 4-15-1 the year before that.
The shape of it changed in November. 7 games in, West Islip had a goal a game; from Nov. 3 to the end of the season they averaged nearly 3, and they scored in 16 of their 20 games overall.
The second win came with a symmetry. West Islip opened the season against Ward Melville on Sept. 15 and lost it 2-1. 10 weeks later they beat the same team 4-3, Grande scoring in the 1st Period and Thomas Albertelli twice. Ward Melville finished 9th, one place above West Islip.
Then came a month in which West Islip kept ending up level after 3 periods. They went to overtime against Kings Park/Commack on Dec. 8, Middle Country on Dec. 21 and Connetquot/Sayville on Jan. 4, scoring 5, 4 and 5. 3 of their last 8 games went to overtime.
The 3rd win was the biggest night of the year: 5-0 over Patchogue-Medford on Jan. 21, 1 of 3 nights they reached 5 and the only one in which they did not concede. Giacomo DeBetta scored twice in the second period, once short-handed and once on the power play.
9 players from last season’s roster are not on this year’s sheet, and 24 of the 45 goals go with them. Thomas Albertelli, who had been on Varsity in each of the last 3 seasons, led them with 6 goals and 10 points in 18 games. Dylan Carter played all 20 games and finished 4-2—6, Lucas Thompson had 2 goals and 5 assists from the blue line, Raymond Pierce 3-3—6, and James Barbieri scored 4 times in 5 games. Jaime Allen, Peter McCann, Spencer Jordan and goaltender Colin Hovanec also finish up. The other 21 goals are back.
Jonathan Grande
Grande scored 9 goals and 14 points in 15 games, leading West Islip in both. The 9 are 1/5th of everything the team scored, and the next-highest total among the players coming back is 4.
He scored in 7 of his 15 games and had more than 1 point in 4 of them. The biggest came against Connetquot/Sayville on Jan. 4: 2 goals and 2 assists in a 6-5 overtime loss. He scored short-handed with 10:52 left in the second, set up Jack Fifield on the power play three and a half minutes later, scored again with 8:52 left in the 3rd and then assisted on Fifield’s 2nd of the night with 7:10 to go. All 5 West Islip goals that night came from players who are on this year’s sheet.
Four weeks earlier against Kings Park/Commack, he had 2 goals and an assist in another overtime game: a power-play goal with 13:38 left in the second, and one 26 seconds into the third, set up by Sapoff from the net.
His 9 goals break down 5 at even strength, 3 on the power play and 1 short-handed, which is roughly how West Islip used him: on both special teams as well as at five-on-five. He wears No. 22, and 2026-27 is his 3rd Varsity season; he came up through West Islip Blue at the Freshman level and Junior Varsity in 2023-24, and split 2024-25 between Varsity and JV.
The forwards
Jak Lammens (F, 3-4—7) is next in line among the returning scorers, with 7 points in 17 games. He scored in the 3rd Period against Sachem on Dec. 3 off passes from Brendan McMahon and Sapoff, added a power-play goal against Middle Country on Dec. 21 with Grande setting it up, and scored again against Connetquot/Sayville on Jan. 4. He has been in the program throughout: Junior Varsity and West Islip Blue at the Freshman level in 2023-24, the JV in 2024-25, Varsity last season.
Nicholas Albertelli (F, 2-3—5) played 19 games, more than any other skater on this year’s roster. His short-handed goal with 6:43 left in the third against Middle Country on Oct. 15 came from McMahon and Lammens, 3 players who are all still here, on one goal a man down.
Fifield (F, 4-1—5) got his 4 goals into 13 games, 2 of them on the power play. 2 came in the Jan. 4 overtime game against Connetquot/Sayville, one in the Dec. 8 overtime game against Kings Park/Commack, and the last with 3:47 left in the second period of the season finale against East Islip.
DeBetta (F, 2-1—3) played nine games and put both of his goals into one period on Jan. 21, short-handed with 10:47 left in the second and then on the power play with 5:11 left, the second from Thompson. Colin Bloom (F) also played nine games in his first varsity season and is back for a second.
Five more come up, and all five have West Islip seasons behind them. James Aspetti (F) has three straight junior varsity seasons behind him, 9-6—15 in 18 games last year after 7-2—9 in each of the two before it. Salvatore Randazzo (F, No. 12) had 3-3—6 in 18 games for West Islip Gold at the developmental level in 2023-24, then two seasons on the JV, 0-2—2 in 17 games and 4-1—5 in 20 last year. Joseph Soulos (F) had two developmental seasons with West Islip Gold, 2-3—5 in 20 games and then 18-11—29 in 18, and moved up to the junior varsity last year for 7-4—11 in 15. Ryan Bonkov (F) scored 19 goals and 27 points in 16 junior varsity games last season. Lucas Dossantos (F, No. 11) scored five goals and 10 points in 16 junior varsity games last season, after 2-0—2 in 16 junior varsity games in 2024-25 and 3-1—4 in 11 games for West Islip Blue at the freshman level in 2023-24.
Defense
The 2026-27 filing designates all 14 skaters as forwards and carries no defense designation. The blue-line experience is on the sheet regardless: 3 of the returning skaters played defense on Varsity last season, and between them they were in 46 games.
McMahon (1-5—6) played 17 of the 20 games and had a hand in six goals, third among the returning skaters. His own came with 7:59 left in the third against Kings Park/Commack on Dec. 8, in a game West Islip took to overtime, and he set up goals in October, November and December. He changes his number this season, from 36 to 48.
Matthew Cascino (0-1—1) played 16 games and plays a physical game, taking 28 penalty minutes. His assist set up Grande’s goal against Northport/Huntington on Nov. 10. He moves from 58 to 56. Matthew Rao (0-1—1) played 13 games, and his one assist started the sequence that finished with Fifield’s third-period goal against Connetquot/Sayville on Jan. 4. Both came up the same route as Lammens and McMahon: West Islip Blue at the Freshman level, then Junior Varsity, then Varsity.
In goal
Sapoff (G, No. 31) is entering his 4th Varsity season, the only player on the filing who has been on Varsity in each of the last 3. He appeared in 12 games last season and started 11 of the 20, the larger share of a net he split with Hovanec. He also turns up in the scoring: it was Sapoff who sent Grande in 26 seconds into the third period against Kings Park/Commack on Dec. 8.
Sean Murphy (G, No. 6) is the other one, and he arrives with a full apprenticeship: West Islip Blue at the Freshman level in 2023-24, then 2 straight seasons in the Junior Varsity net, 8 games in 2024-25 and 3 more last year. 3 years of games in this program is a real foundation, and the step up is the one he has been building toward.
The staff, and what’s next
John Dicio is the head coach, with Sal Randazzo and Kyle Caron on the staff. Captains have not been named yet.
The season opens Wednesday, Sept. 16, against Northport/Huntington and closes Friday, Jan. 22, against Eastport South Manor, one of three teams added to the division this year along with Longwood and St. Mary’s. Patchogue-Medford, which gave West Islip two of its three wins last season, and Middle Country are both gone, leaving a 12-team division, and West Islip’s Jan. 22 finale is the earliest finish on the calendar. Every West Islip varsity game streamed on the LI Sports Network YouTube channel last season and will again this year; the team page and the division standings update through the season.
16 names, 10 of them with varsity games already played, and 21 of last season’s 45 goals. Grande is back, and the returning group carries 7 of the 11 power-play goals and 3 of the 4 the team scored a man down, three and one of those his, Sapoff has 3 Varsity seasons behind him, and 6 players step up from inside the program, 5 of them with 3 West Islip seasons behind them. West Islip looked like a different team over the last 13 games than over the first 7. Making that the whole season is the job in front of them.
Games to circle
Fri., Sept. 25: Ward Melville. West Islip opened against Ward Melville a year ago and lost it 2-1, then beat the same team 4-3 ten weeks later for the second of its three wins. Ward Melville finished ninth, one place above West Islip, and both meetings last season were one-goal games.
Wed., Oct. 7: St. Mary’s. The first meeting with St. Mary’s, in the school’s first varsity season and one of three teams new to the division this year. Neither side has a result against the other to go on.
Fri., Oct. 16: St. Anthony’s. The reigning county and Long Island champion, back on the schedule twice. Only three teams beat St. Anthony’s in the regular season last year.
Sun., Jan. 17: Connetquot/Sayville. The 6-5 overtime game against Connetquot/Sayville last Jan. 4 was Grande’s biggest night, two goals and two assists, and all five West Islip goals came from players who are on this year’s sheet.
2026-27 West Islip Varsity roster
| No. | Player | Pos. | 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Matthew Rao | D | Varsity, 0-1—1 |
| 6 | Sean Murphy | G | JV |
| 7 | James Aspetti | F | JV |
| 11 | Lucas Dossantos | F | JV |
| 12 | Salvatore Randazzo | F | JV |
| 14 | Colin Bloom | F | Varsity, 9 GP |
| 22 | Jonathan Grande | F | Varsity, 9-5—14 |
| 23 | Joseph Soulos | F | JV |
| 27 | Nicholas Albertelli | F | Varsity, 2-3—5 |
| 31 | Tyler Sapoff | G | Varsity, 11 starts |
| 40 | Jak Lammens | F | Varsity, 3-4—7 |
| 48 | Brendan McMahon | D | Varsity, 1-5—6 |
| 56 | Matthew Cascino | D | Varsity, 0-1—1 |
| 62 | Ryan Bonkov | F | JV |
| 86 | Jack Fifield | F | Varsity, 4-1—5 |
| 88 | Giacomo DeBetta | F | Varsity, 2-1—3 |
Head coach: John Dicio. Staff: Sal Randazzo, Kyle Caron. Numbers and positions come from the club’s 2026-27 roster filing, which designates every skater a forward and does not give class years. Scoring lines are goals-assists—points for skaters and starts for goalies, from lihockey.com; junior varsity, freshman and developmental lines come from the same source. Records and division ranks are regular season.