Thursday, October 1, 2026
Carey boys’ lacrosse coach Tom Aiello is confident the ingredients to cook up a championship contender are there.
It’s just a matter of finding the right recipe to make sure the season ends up well done.
It is the Seahawks' first season in Nassau’s power conference, and Carey has split their first eight games of the regular season.
They’ve shown spurts — a 9-5 win over two-time defending Class A champion Farmingdale — the signature win to this point.
But there’s been more inconsistency than anything, which means the recipe tinkering continues.
One of the key ingredients to any successful team is in the cage, and Carey has that in Richie Metzger. The returning All-County selection and Marist commit has made 103 saves with a stellar save percentage of 62.1.
“He’s playing very well, he’s in really good shape,” Aiello said. “The defense has to tighten up, but he’s definitely a very good goalie.”
Billy Koutsoumbaris, an Adelphi-bound senior, is anchoring the defense and Will Cooper, who missed most of last season with a broken collarbone, has been terrific on the defensive end as well as in the clearing game.
“He’s a difference maker on the field,” Aiello said of the short-stick defensive midfielder.
But on the offensive end, where there’s a pair of Division I-bound attackmen in St. John’s commit Christian Todaro, who was named All-County a year ago and leads the way with 16 goals and five assists, and Manhattan-bound Chris Obertis, who has 13 goals and eight assists, is where the recipe needs to be fine-tuned.
“When we come to play, we’re going to compete,” Aiello said. “We just need the little things to get better for us. We need to work together on offense, six guys playing offense. We’re just not clicking yet on the offensive end.”
Despite that firepower, which includes James McGrath, Ethan Pelzer, Jayden Radow, Vince Vicari, Christian Korszloski, and the return of Mikey Verderosa, who missed last season due to a knee injury, the Seahawks are averaging just 7.4 goals per game.
“Everybody’s just got to get a little bit better, dodge a little bit stronger, we can shoot a little bit better, and take advantage of opportunities we’re just not finishing yet,” Aiello said.
The power conference is unforgiving. Following a 9-5 loss to defending state champion South Side, the Seahawks hope to bounce back against perennial powerhouse Manhasset. And then there’s another county champion in Wantagh and Syosset, and Garden City remaining on the schedule.
But Aiello is confident that being battle-tested in the regular season will make them better suited for a deep postseason run. A year ago, Carey went 12-6 and reached the Class B semifinals at Hofstra, but was outmatched by South Side in a 12-3 defeat.
Iron sharpens iron? That’s what Aiello is banking on as he hopes his team is a bunch of iron chefs come later next month.
“We’ve played with much less talent, and we’ve played some tough teams,” Aiello said. “It’s always made us better at the end. Hopefully, the formula is the same.”
