A Whole New Look For Preseason No. 5 St. Anthony's (N.Y.)

There isn't a single program that experienced more off-season roster turnover than Long Island power St. Anthony's, with more than two dozen seniors from last year's 12-1 team now playing at the NCAA level.   Fortunately for longtime head coach Keith Wieczorek and his staff, the Friars have plenty of pieces to work with, even if the lack of experience is uncommon relative to what the program has become accustomed to as of late. Starting with Brennan O'Neill in the 2020 class, St. Anthony's has produced a top-two prospect in four out of the last six recruiting cycles and sent gobs of players to the next level, including No. 1 freshman recruit Owen Duffy, the headliner of a special senior class in '23.   “The biggest adjustment is that seven or eight of those guys [in the Class of 2023] we had for three years, so going into last year, everyone was battle-tested and ready to roll,” said Wieczorek. “Besides a few of our seniors, no one else has been in the fire at the varsity level.”   With just two weeks of practice and without any scrimmages under their belt, the Friars will dive right into it at Rutgers University on Sunday afternoon against preseason No. 1 and Culver Academy (5-0) out of Indiana. Under similar circumstances a year ago, St. Anthony's cruised to an 8-2 halftime lead en route to a 14-10 win to kickstart a wildly successful season that culminated with a CHSAA title and No. 2 finish in Inside Lacrosse's national Top 25. Although Culver has jumped out to a 5-0 start in 2024, leaning on a downright loaded senior class and benefitting from the ability to play together year-round, Jon Birsner's Eagles will come into Sunday's matchup without having scouted any film of the Friars. Last year's tape won't get them very far.   Things will look entirely different on the offensive end, where they won't return a single full-time starter. Senior attackman [player_tooltip player_id='14954' first='Luke' last='Breslin'], a heady and slick 4-star bound for Lehigh, is as close as it gets in that regard, posting 15 goals and 10 assists while rotating in as the fourth attackman for much of 2023. He'll be joined by two more seniors in [player_tooltip player_id='15268' first='Quinn' last='Langton'], an Army recruit poised to breakthrough after a big offseason, and Iona-bound lefty [player_tooltip player_id='15509' first='Jake' last='Riglietti'], who is more of an unknown commodity but drew heavy praise from Wieczorek for how well he's played during preseason practices. "With Riglietti, we've got a lefty who brings his lunchpail to work and got the crap beaten out of him in practice with the scout team last year but never kicked the door open," Wieczorek says. "I've been impressed with how tight those three have become, and with Luke and Langton, they're more similar than you'd think but still different. Langton has been excellent, and he's more of a physical kid who will get after you and get after groundballs, though that's not to say that Luke doesn't have that in his game, too." At the midfield, all six members of 2023's first and second line are gone, so a player like senior captain [player_tooltip player_id='14905' first='Kyle' last='Bilello'] (Brown) will be asked to step into an increased role. Bilello, another 4-star recruit, was on the field a ton as one of the Friars' primary defensive midfielders last year and impressed with his nonstop motor and ability to turn gritty groundballs into transition opportunities. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='15216' first='Luke' last='Aasheim'], who flipped from High Point to Bryant back in October, and No. 2 junior [player_tooltip player_id='14540' first='Gary' last='Merrill'] (North Carolina) will also run with the first line, with the latter set to play a two-way role alongside Bilello. After getting limited playing time a year ago (although he did work his way up to the second unit in May), Merrill had a massive summer and was named the top-ranked midfielder in the Class of 2025, eventually going on to dazzle as the Friars' quarterback on the gridiron. A ridiculous athlete and hard-nosed competitor, Merrill has the potential to become a driving force for the SA offense, even if it takes a bit of time for him to get there. In terms of specialists, top face-off man [player_tooltip player_id='14908' first='Michael' last='Moon'] (Brown) is back in the fray, as is fellow senior [player_tooltip player_id='15383' first='Sean' last='Forde'], who split time in net last year and has signed with Utah. Given the importance of those two positions, along with how different the rest of the lineup will look, having them both back is huge. With that being said, the defense could turn out to be the team's biggest strength, despite returning a single starter in Top 50 recruit [player_tooltip player_id='14845' first='Tommy' last='Snyder']. At 6'5, the Virginia recruit is hard to miss on the field, and while his ranginess enables him to be disruptive, he's more of a steady presence than a takeaway artist - the more you watch him, the easier it is to appreciate his skill set. Also a basketball standout, Snyder has excellent footwork, a high IQ, and a great stick. He'll be flanked by 4-star senior [player_tooltip player_id='14914' first='Dante' last='Vardaro'], who missed last year with a season-ending knee injury but bounced back this fall with a big campaign as a sideline-to-sideline force on the football field. Highly recruited thanks to his play on the club circuit, the Penn commit is set to bring a vocal and aggressive style of play to the Friars' defense. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='21163' first='Tyler' last='Shanahan'] (Sacred Heart) and junior [player_tooltip player_id='21150' first='Michael' last='Kelton'] (Army) are both in the mix to round out the starting unit, while the Friars will have two more high-end recruits roaming the field at LSM. A member of the JV last year, UNC verbal [player_tooltip player_id='14538' first='Parker' last='McDonald'] was named the No. 12 recruit in the junior class and was a menace on the summer circuit, standing out with his long and athletic frame, slick stick work, and the ability to seamlessly bump back and forth between LSM and close D. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='17165' first='Ethan' last='Bramoff'], another commodity in the grade below, looks every bit of a player worthy of five-star recognition and is a threat to put the ball both on the ground and in the back of the net with flair. Several of his '26 classmates will be in line for time at the face-off X and midfield as well. With so many fresh faces, this St. Anthony's team will be a work in progress, and the No. 5 preseason ranking is more of a reflection of where they could be by the end of the year rather than where we think they'll be early on. Don't expect the St. Anthony's program to fall off though. The Friars will be just fine. Check back next week for coverage of SA's opener against Culver, <a href="https://m.youtube.com/live/A6l2vLZBMxA?feature=shared">which will be live-streamed at this link</a>.

There isn't a single program that experienced more off-season roster turnover than Long Island power St. Anthony's, with more than two dozen seniors from last year's 12-1 team now playing at the NCAA level.