From The Statesman
By Anthony DiCocco
After a solid season to close out its run in the Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESCHL), the No. 24 Stony Brook hockey hopes to return to nationals during the Atlantic Coast Conference Hockey League’s (ACCHL) debut campaign.
Following a disastrous 2023-24 campaign that saw the Seawolves win just seven games, Stony Brook rebounded in 2024-25. Overall, the team went 13-12-6 while going 6-3-1 in league play, which was good enough for the second seed in the ESCHL playoffs and a No. 22 national ranking.
Despite their strong place on the national scale, the Seawolves still missed out on the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s national tournament for a third straight year. Furthermore, they were quickly bounced from the ESCHL playoffs by fifth-seeded Syracuse in the semifinals after earning a first-round bye.
Coming into this season, Stony Brook will look to build off its bounce-back campaign by establishing its ground in the ACCHL North. Along with featuring familiar ESCHL foes in Pittsburgh, Delaware and Syracuse, Oswego has joined the fray. If the Seawolves play well enough to earn a spot in the playoffs, they will also cross paths with some of the ACCHL South’s teams, which features Alabama, Louisville, Kentucky, North Carolina State and the University of North Carolina.
“With winning the most ESCHL titles, we want to carry that over into the ACCHL,” winger Justin Nakagawa told The Statesman. “The ideal is Stony Brook being the dominant team in the league. Setting the precedent of winning the ACCHL would create a strong foundation.”
The Seawolves’ quest to return to the big dance will not come without changes. A number of key players will not be back this year. Last season’s starting goaltender Scott Barnikow, defenseman Andrew Mancini and centers James Kozicki and Nick Newman all graduated, while defenseman Kiernan Gately decided to retire due to a nagging nerve issue in his back. Mancini and Kozicki specifically represent a big loss in the leadership department, as they served as captain and alternate captain, respectively.
Nonetheless, head coach Chris Garofalo did some heavy recruiting in the offseason to supplement his talented crop of returners, especially on the offensive side of the puck.
“We’ve got some really good things going on,” Garofalo said. “There’s going to be a lot of new faces in the lineup to go with the returners and I think we’re going to be explosive offensively.”
More firepower will certainly be welcomed for Stony Brook up front. Last year, the Seawolves averaged 3.55 goals per game and converted on 22.1% of their power plays. Though each mark is respectable, both were the second–lowest figures of the teams that currently make up the ACCHL North, only beating out Pittsburgh’s respective 3.29 average and 17.6% clip.
Stony Brook’s top line is set to feature a trio of returners. Center Will Kormanik will be flanked by wingers Kristian Malec — who is standing in for winger Alex Scimeca as he recovers from a shoulder injury — and Paul DeSaro to start the year.
A season ago, Kormanik was the Seawolves’ leading goalscorer (16) and one of the ESCHL’s top point producers. As a dominant force around the net, the power forward’s 35 points through 30 games were tied for seventh in the league and co-led the team with Nakagawa. On top of filling the back of the net, Kormanik also excels at making plays, as his 19 assists ranked second on the squad.
To build off his past success, Kormanik will aim to clear his mind, as thinking too much out there generally gets him into trouble.
“I just need to continue doing the simple things and keeping options open on the ice, whether it’s for myself or other guys,” Kormanik said in an interview. “Letting the game flow works best for me. The more I think about it, the more I struggle, so I just keep it out of my head and play my game.”
With Mancini and Kozicki now behind the bench as coaches after graduating, Kormanik was named the team’s new captain, a role that he is excited to embrace.
“It’s my first time ever being captain, so it’s something new for me,” Kormanik said. “I’m going to do my best to lead the team in the right direction and hopefully win as many games as possible.”
Entering his sophomore season with the team, DeSaro is poised for a breakout campaign. As a freshman, DeSaro potted the fourth-most goals (10) on the team and racked up nine assists for 19 points, which ranked fifth.
After developing on-ice chemistry with Kormanik last season, DeSaro attributed his success to the team’s newly-minted captain and believes the center can help him take his game to the next level.
“Being on a line with [Kormanik] definitely helps me keep my motor going,” DeSaro said. “I just need to keep my game simple, not doing anything crazy and, most importantly, be positive and have fun at the end of the day.”
On the left side of the ice, Malec and Scimeca have potential to be key contributors as well. Like DeSaro, Scimeca is a sophomore who put up promising numbers during his rookie season. Though he missed some time with an injury, Scimeca collected the second-most tallies on the team (13) and notched seven assists, giving him 20 points in 23 games.
Through 27 games last year, Malec totaled just one goal and 10 points in a limited role. However, the speedburner buried six goals while posting 11 points through 19 games two seasons ago.
As mentioned earlier, Nakagawa was also a potent performer for Stony Brook last year and he will anchor line two. Of Nakagawa’s 35 points, 24 of them came via assists, giving him the team lead and the sixth most in the ESCHL a year ago.
After scoring seven of his 11 goals during the team’s first 10 games in 2024-25, Nakagawa will aim for more consistency this season and searched to do so by homing in on his conditioning.
“My coaches challenged me with fitness,” Nakagawa told The Statesman. “This year, I came in with a much more fit and athletic build for myself.”
Filling out the line will be a pair of NCAA Division III transfers in center Robert Hyde and winger Matt Anastasio. Across 56 games over three seasons at SUNY Brockport, Anastasio deposited 16 goals and seven markers for 23 points.
In Hyde’s case, hopes are extremely high. Despite racking up just two goals and four assists in 24 games for SUNY Cortland, Garofalo raved about Hyde and his goalscoring abilities, making him a real scoring threat to pair with an elite playmaker in Nakagawa.
“Watch out for Hyde, I’ll tell you right now,” Garofalo said. “I believe Hyde has an almost NHL-caliber shot.”
For the Seawolves’ bottom-six forward group, Garofalo will have a number of options to deploy. As of now, the third line will be completely rebuilt with three fresh additions. Lining up down the middle will be center Lorenzo Marra, who registered 13 goals and 35 points with the National Collegiate Development Conference’s (NCDC) Northern Cyclones last year.
Wingers Peter Labos and Anthony Vernillo are slated to round out the line. After recording 21 goals and 38 assists in 31 games with P.A.L Junior Islanders in the United States Premier Hockey League’s (USPHL) Premier division, Labos was promoted to the Islanders’ NCDC squad, where he netted two goals and notched seven helpers in 18 games.
Like Labos, Vernillo also started his 2024-25 season in the USPHL Premier and dominated. In 43 games, the forward tallied 28 goals and 65 points for the Connecticut Junior Rangers before earning a promotion to the NCDC, where he picked up an assist across two games.
“Our overall offensive depth is way better this year,” Garofalo said. “I think that we realistically have three lines that can score, to be honest.”
To finish up the team’s opening night offensive group will be the sophomore trio of center Hudson DiNapoli alongside wingers Cooper Smith and Nate LeGrette. Smith performed well in his rookie year, posting three goals, one of which was Stony Brook’s lone shorthanded marker during the year, and eight points in 28 games. DiNapoli collected a goal and three helpers across 29 games. LeGrette made the most of limited ice time by burning seven goals and adding four assists in 25 contests.
Along with the 12 forwards scheduled to dress on opening night, the Seawolves possess strong depth outside of them. Returning forwards Lucas Puccia, Evan Manna and Joey Lomtevas will also be vying for playing time.
Freshman forwards R.J. Sember and Max Gorzelnik will mix in as well, with Sember being labeled as a “hard-working bull” by Nakagawa and a “nuisance to play against” by Garofalo. Last season, Sember tallied 10 goals and 22 points over 45 contests with the New England Wolves of the Eastern Hockey League. Gorzelnik did not play last year, but posted 11 goals and 20 points across two different levels during the 2023-24 campaign.
When looking at the blue line, the team’s defensive core will largely be made up of returners despite losing top-four defensemen in Mancini, Gately and Owen Larson. As a team, the Seawolves surrendered 3.61 goals per game last season, which ranked as the second-highest number of the five ACCHL North squads. Additionally, the team’s 78.8% success rate on the penalty kill also represents the second-lowest rate.
Leading the charge will be defenseman Colin Wenrich, who turned heads during his rookie campaign a season ago. With injuries to a number of minute eaters, the smooth skater quickly emerged as Stony Brook’s No. 1 blueliner, accumulating four goals and 11 assists in 25 games while playing key minutes on both the penalty kill and as quarterback on the power play. His efforts also earned him some votes for The Statesman’s 2025 Men’s Rookie of the Year award.
“Wenrich is just our most solid defenseman that we have,” Garofalo said. “He really impresses me day in and day out.”
As a continuation from the end of last season, defenseman Gavin Connelly will be partnered with Wenrich to begin the year. The right-shot defenseman joined the team after the 2024-25 season’s winter break and instantly helped stabilize the backend alongside Wenrich, posting three assists in 11 games.
Like the Wenrich-Connelly pairing, defensemen Joey Trazzera and Teddy Valenti will work as a duo again. Though neither are flashy players, both operate as stay-at-home defensemen and contribute on the penalty kill.
After dealing with a multitude of injuries since becoming a Seawolf, Trazzera had offseason surgery to repair a shoulder injury that has been plaguing him since he was 16, helping the senior feel the healthiest he’s been in years.
“I’ve unfortunately been a little bit injury prone during my time at Stony Brook,” Trazzera told The Statesman. “I don’t think I’ve completed a full year yet, but this is definitely the best I’ve felt going into a full season. I’m really excited to see what a healthy me looks like.”
Rounding out Stony Brook’s defensive group is the pairing of defensemen Jackson Haskins and Charles Poirier with Kyle Nestepny mixing in as the seventh defenseman. Continuing the trend of rookies having success last season, Haskins got an opportunity to play when the Seawolves were depleted with injuries and he never looked back. In a 23-game sample size, the left-handed d-man earned time on the power play and totaled two goals and seven assists.
Poirier is Stony Brook’s lone addition to the back end for this season. Last season, the Quebec native suited up for Collège Champlain Cougars of the Quebec Collegiate Hockey League, where he netted five goals and notched 13 helpers in 36 games. The offensive-minded defenseman also comes with an impressive pedigree, as he was drafted in the eighth round of the 2020 Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Draft by the Shawinigan Cataractes.
“[Poirier] is a big pickup for us,” Garofalo said. “We lost Larson and [Poirier’s] style is very similar to him, just that he’s a lefty. Very great vision, very good skater and I think [Poirier] has a little more toughness to him. He’s a huge addition to our back end.”
As for Nestepny, he is set to become a full-time defenseman once again after being converted to a forward by Garofalo a few years ago. Last season, Nestepny started off up front and excelled, as he finished the campaign with nine goals and 18 points in his return from a near-two year absence due to repeated concussions. However, when Stony Brook was hampered with injuries down the stretch a season ago, Nestepny returned to his natural position on defense and did not miss a beat.
Nestepny’s comeback earned him The Statesman’s 2024-25 Men’s Comeback Player of the Year award and his teammates expect him to continue to grow as a graduate student.
“When I first heard [Nestepny] was going back to D, I was wondering ‘What are we doing here?’” Trazzera said. “But then you see him get in the D-zone with the puck, you blink and he’s already all the way down the ice going end-to-end. He’s gained a lot of confidence, he’s smart and he has a lot of great chemistry built with a few different partners.”
Defensive defenseman Dylan Kowalsky is back as well, though he will miss the team’s opening weekend with a back injury. Defensemen Jack Mancini and John Braccia will provide additional depth after playing for Stony Brook’s Amateur Athletic Union squad last season.
For the Seawolves’ last line of defense, the team received some unfortunate injury news during training camp. With Barnikow no longer occupying the net, goaltenders Garrett Simpson and Steven Reganato were set to see the bulk of playing time in the blue paint this season. However, Simpson — who posted the team’s only shutout a season ago — will likely undergo season-ending surgery to repair a shoulder injury he sustained in practice, leaving Reganato as Stony Brook’s starting netminder to begin the year.
Albeit a small sample size, Reganato was brilliant when called upon. In nine games as a rookie, he allowed 3.69 goals per game, but posted a sparkling .910 save percentage — the fifth-best mark in the ESCHL — en route to going 3-2-2.
“Reganato is looking really good,” DeSaro said in an interview. “He’s been robbing all of us in practice, so that’s what we want to see him doing in real games.”
Battling it out for the backup role will be goalies Heath Goldsmith and Michael Foglia. Goldsmith failed to get in a game last season, but turned away 30 of the 33 shots he faced during his first and only collegiate start and win against New York University two campaigns ago.
Foglia is a rookie who spent time with the USPHL Premier’s Carolina Junior Hurricanes last season. Through 11 games, he ended the season with stellar numbers, sporting a 2.77 goals against average and a .921 save percentage.
With an infusion of new talent and a number of key pieces returning, the Seawolves appear to be in striking distance for their first national tournament appearance since the 2021-22 season. After growing last season with associate coach Andrew Veglucci rejoining Garofalo behind the bench, Stony Brook is ready to take the next step forward.
“Coach Veglucci laid out the groundwork last year and all of our returners know what he’s expecting of us now,” Nakagawa said. “It’s time to take a big step forward to try to get closer to what Stony Brook was a few years ago.”
The Seawolves started their march toward an ACCHL playoff berth and nationals appearance on Saturday, Oct. 4, when they played against the No. 16 Oswego Lakers at The Rinx. Though the two-game series will mark Stony Brook’s opening weekend, the Lakers have already gotten underway this season and are 2-4-0. When the two sides met last October, the Seawolves swept Oswego. The series concluded Sunday, Oct. 5.
(Originally published at https://sbstatesman.com/138818/sports/no-24-stony-brook-hockey-set-to-make-noise-in-inaugural-acchl-season/)
