(Photo Credit: Eric Dunetz)
Preseason rankings. Many teams see those rankings as hope, forecasting an excellent season ahead. Some don’t think much of them while others use those rankings as a motivator, trying to prove those rankings wrong and show the pollsters what the team is actually made of. That is what East Meadow is going to do.
Placed to finish as a sixth seed this season, head coach Steve D’Argenio is hoping the Jets can finish fourth or even higher. A reason why East Meadow was placed sixth in the preseason poll may be due to the physical age of the players, as most of the players that have been relied heavily on return as Juniors. “We have been very young the past two years and I expect a large turnaround production from them,” D’Argenio commented on his returning roster.
Sophomore Patrick Spinola, coming off stellar seasons with football and wrestling looks to be a standout player. The three-sport star comes back after his freshman season saw him be a huge contributor to an East Meadows team that finished with a 6-9 record and eighth place in Section VII Conference A after a first-round loss to Farmingdale.
Opponents will face a wall in net as Brandon Pedisich, regarded as one of the best goalies in Nassau county, returns for his junior season. “If we need to have success, he needs to be the goalie we think he is,” D’Argenio commented. D’Argenio is also looking for Juniors Chris Barry and Joe Giambald to help lead the team to more victories. Barry, a middie/attacker, was the team’s leader in both goals and points while Giambald was described as a “workhorse” that is solid at midfield.
Losing a handful of seniors to graduation, the biggest losses come from the departure of defenders Payton Stump (SUNY Maritime) and Jarrett Piccione (Binghamton). With the Stump and Piccione gone, D’Argenio will look at senior Frank Falco to lead the team. Falco, who has committed to playing at NCC who ‘can do it all, playing attack, mid and face-offs. D’Argenio calls him “a true leader.”
A look at the Jets regular-season schedule:
They start the season when they host non-league opponent Floral Park on March 26.The first league matchup takes them to Port Washington on April 7.
The Jets will travel to Hicksville on April 22 to take on the Comets.
The final home game, April 12 against Plainview, a non-league game that is also Senior Day. East Meadows finishes the regular season with a visit to Hempstead on April 14 followed by playoffs beginning on the 19.
