Young teams are fun to watch. Fans get to see what the future holds for the players just starting their careers, seeing those players grow skillfully, mentally and literally. Teams that are comprised mainly of underclassmen are more unified and work better together compared to those teams that have players from every grade and age.
The Hauppauge Eagles are hoping their underclassmen-heavy team can make some adjustments from last year’s play where they went 6-8 in division 2 play and 6-9 overall.
After losing only two starters, four seniors overall, to graduation last year, head coach Jim Konen will be relying on juniors Riley Henselder and Andrew Sellitto to lead a senior less offense that returns every single starter from the 2019 season. Both Henselder and Sellitto have started every season since their eighth-grade season.
Last year the Eagles had another standout player in eighth-grader Grant Faber who returns for his freshman season with 25 points in his college career and hopes to add to that number by the end of the first week of the season.
One of a few seniors to be on the team this season is long stick middie Thomas Mitchell who had over 100 ground balls and won 52% of the faceoffs he was faced. All division goalie Ryan Steinhart will lead the Eagles’ defense this season. Another cage minder Damien Levin will look to compete for playing time against Steinhart in the net.
“The expectation is to compete for a division 2 playoff spot,” Konen says, which may be tough looking at the schedule the Eagles will be playing come March.
Here is a look at the games to pay attention to for the Hauppauge Eagles:
They start the season with a road trip to Kings Park on March 16
Hauppauge will visit division 1 opponent Patchogue- Medford on March 24.
The Eagles travel to Harborfields on the last day of April to take on the defending division 2 champions.
A week later, last year’s division 2 runners-up, will face the Eagles when Hauppauge plays host to East Islip.
Hauppauge closes out the regular season hosting Elwood/ John Glenn on senior night on May 15.
