The four Striano brothers propel Cold Spring Harbor football

Mary Striano clearly recalls the medical consultation she and her husband, Vince, had  with a doctor in 2001 about their second pregnancy. The news he delivered about the result of their in vitro fertilization procedure was much bigger than expected. Vince and Mary weren’t going to be welcoming one new child or even two, but triplets.

“My husband turned to the wall and hit his head against it three times,” she said.

Vince admitted to the shock that came with the realization that they’d be raising four kids, all born in a little more than  a year. However, when Dom, Petey and Richie Striano were born late that October,  joining older brother Danny, something occurred to him. He said “my dream that day is what we’re seeing today — that they might all one day play together, support each other and be a part of something very successful.”

The four Striano brothers — a senior and three juniors — play a lot of roles in the athletic ensemble that is the Cold Spring Harbor football team. After capturing the Nassau IV title last Friday, Cold Spring Harbor will face Shoreham-Wading River for the Long Island Class IV championship on Friday at Stony Brook.

Dom and Petey, who are identical, are two-way linemen. Richie, their fraternal triplet,  is a fullback and linebacker, and elder brother Danny is a tailback and defensive back. Given how often they’re in on a play, the Striano name is likely to echo from the LaValle Stadium PA much of the afternoon.

“It’s pretty cool that all of them turned out to be incredible athletes and impact players for us,” Seahawks quarterback Ray Costa said. “They’ve really contributed to the culture of the program because they push each other so hard, and that’s contagious. This team is like a family, and maybe a little of that is because they are a family.”

That the Strianos excel in football is not a coincidence.

Mary Striano was a three-sport athlete at her high school in Wichita, Kansas.  Vince was a linebacker and fullback for Holy Family (now St. Anthony’s); he was a Newsday All-Long Island selection in 1978 and a finalist for the Hansen Award, given to Suffolk's top player. According to a Newsday story, he rushed for 915 yards and led the Catholic league in scoring with 78 points, “but his forte was defense, where he had three interceptions and was the leading tackler for two years.”

The kids took to the game early on. Beginning at the ages of 5 and 6, they were out on the beach in Naples, Florida, where the family vacations, playing two-on-two, with Vince quarterbacking both ways.

“This would go on for hours every day and the competition was fierce,” Mary said. “It was remarkable then and it goes on to this day.”

“They have competed with and against each other and they’ve grown very close,” Vince said. “They have a passion for the game. I watch the way this football team competes and is a brotherhood, and we’d like to think they’ve played a role in it.”

The four also play together on the CSH lacrosse team. Danny accepted a scholarship to play lacrosse at Providence next year and Richie has committed to play at Bucknell.

The dynamics inside the Striano household have been an interesting study. Danny is a natural-born competitor and Vince and Mary believe he encouraged that in the triplets.

How do they see it? “Danny always wins every argument,” Richie said.

“But it’s always Danny versus someone else,” Dom was quick to add.

This comes through on the sideline.

“I can really get on these guys because we’re used to speaking freely,” Danny said. “And when we talk to each other, we really understand one another.”

That was missing last season when Danny was sidelined with a fractured L-5 vertebra. He watched and enjoyed it as the other three helped the Seahawks go 8-0 in the regular season and win two playoff games before losing to Seaford in the county final. “Watching that made me want to get healthy for this season,” he said.

Danny got back for this season — though he missed three games with a knee injury — and scored three touchdowns as CSH topped Seaford in the Nassau IV title game rematch last Friday.

“With Danny back, it’s the more the merrier,” Petey said.

 With Danny injured last season, CSH coach Jon Mendreski said he cheered on his brothers and his team. “He’s back now,'' Mendreski said, ''and you can see that he’s keeping an eye on the other three.” 

Richie, however, clearly is the family spokesman and cut-up. “There’s something different about all of us: Petey’s the smart one, Dom’s the strong one, Danny’s the fast one and I got a little bit of everything,” he said.

Richie also said that “when people ask about us being triplets, we just tell them we were made in a lab.”

Mendreski agreed almost word-for-word. “Richie has definitely got a little bit of everything,” he said. “He’s — I don’t want to say The Mayor — but he gets it.”

Mendreski and the rest of the Seahawks find moments to laugh at the quartet. The coach said  two often would show up for summer workouts and have no idea where the other two were, “like they live together but can’t keep track of each other.” And Costa said “none of us can figure out how when three of them have the same birthday, only two have a driver’s license.”

Game time is where the joking ends. That’s when they become part of the bigger family, the one with athletes who can beat an opponent so many ways. Costa, for example, has run for 10 touchdowns and thrown for 10. The defense has posted four shutouts and held foes to a single score two other times.

“It’s fun to be able to play with your actual brothers, the ones you go home with,” Richie said, “but we also are a part of something bigger, and that’s the really great thing.”