Thursday, October 1, 2026
The MacArthur boys lacrosse team powered through some early adversity to enter the home stretch of the schedule nearly unblemished.
The Generals lost sophomore midfielder Dylan Shanahan to a torn ACL in an 15-11 win versus Plainview on March 24, three days after senior defenseman Anthony Mulieri suffered a broken thumb in a non-league 14-4 victory versus Tappan Zee at SUNY Maritime. MacArthur has pressed on without its two key players for much of the season and entered the week at 6-2 following a 14-10 win at Carey last Friday.
“There were a lot of ups and downs early, but the kids battled through,” said longtime MacArthur boys lacrosse head coach John Nessler. “We have some great team chemistry with some very good senior leadership.”
The offense has managed to click even without Shanahan, who netted 24 goals as a freshman, thanks to veteran leadership from senior midfielders James McGee and Patrick McNerney, who both tallied four goals in the Carey victory. Freshman attackmen Johnny Nessler and Vito Colucci along with junior attackman Aidan Raab have also stepped up for a MacArthur offense that has produced double digits in all but two games.
Junior faceoff specialist Jake Henschel has also been key to the offense winning around 70 percent of draws including 11 in the Carey win. “Jake has been one of the biggest forces for us,” Nessler said. “Even if he doesn't win the initial draw he battles and battles and battles and at least gives us an opportunity to try to win a ground ball.”
The defense returned Mulieri last week to help anchor a unit in front of senior goalie Caden Cullen along with senior Timothy Patrey. The close defense has also gotten contributions from senior Liam Donnelly and junior Santino Colucci with Robbie Ruocchio also playing a big role as a long stick defensive midfielder.
Cullen, who earned All-County honors last year, is having another standout season patrolling the net producing five double digit save games including 20 stops in the Plainview triumph.
“As a returning All-County kid he definitely helps us out to kind of anchor the defense,” said Nessler of Cullen. “He’s doing a tremendous job for us.”
MacArthur will host Mepham on April 29 under the lights at 7:30 p.m. before returning home for a 7 p.m. faceoff against Calhoun. The Generals’ final home game is scheduled for May 9 versus Hewlett at 7 p.m. with the regular season finale slated for May 13 at Jericho.
Nessler said if the team can finish the regular season strong it could be well positioned for a high seed in the upcoming Class B playoffs where the Generals will look to build off last year’s quarterfinals appearance.
“We want to put ourselves in the best position we can to be successful for a good playoff run,” Nessler said.
