Southold’s Travis Sepenoski going up for a jump shot in a Brookhaven Town Summer League game. He’ll be in goal for the school’s soccer team next month.(Credit: Bill Landon)

The first time Southold High School boys’ basketball head coach Will Fujita noticed Travis Sepenoski during the 2021-22 season, the freshman wasn’t initially on his radar.

Fujita, who was coaching Pierson at the time, had a goal of neutralizing Travis’ older brother Jack from getting the ball. “We wanted to make sure that it wasn’t his hands, because we knew that he was a good passer,” he said. “I didn’t really know too much about Travis in basketball at that point, because I had been removed from Southold hoops for quite some time. He impressed me with his nose for the ball and his defensive footwork as a freshman.”

Fujita talked to Southold head coach Lucas Grigonis afterwards, saying that “he had a really nice player on his hands, and he was going to have him for the next four years. Which was pretty cool, not knowing that a few years later, we’d be working together.”

They will have to wait a few months before the Settlers hit the basketball court for their season. Before that, Sepenoski will begin his senior year as the starting goalkeeper on the soccer team.

“Soccer is my favorite sport, so I’m definitely really excited,” he said. “Really excited to get back out there and play it again.”

Southold lost to archrival Greenport in the Suffolk County Class C final last year, so there is something to shoot for.

Travis’ goals are simple and to the point. “Similar to last year,” he said. “Go .500 or even better than .500, and just get back to the playoffs.”

Nothing about him. It’s all about the team.

That type of attitude has defined Sepenoski’s career, according to his coaches. “He’s super unselfish,” said Fujita, a 2012 Southold alumnus who coached at Pierson for seven years. “He’s looking to make sure other people have opportunities to score before himself. I think that speaks to who he is as a person, too … A super redeeming quality.”

Indeed, it is.

“He’s very dedicated to his athletics,” Southold’s new head soccer coach Chris Ruggi said. “He’s always playing, whether it’s practices run by coaches in the off season, or with his friends. He’s just a sports junkie. It translates to a combination with his talent to all the success he has.”

Travis said that he was ready to be a team leader, but he had hoped that other teammates would step forward as well.

“If I’m put into that role, I’ll take it,” he said. “But I think it’s just important that everyone tries to be a leader, not just like one single person. Because then if you’re all trying to help each other, it’s a lot easier than just like one person doing it.”

Travis’ older brother, Jack, enjoyed a standout career. He was named the 2024 Suffolk Times boys’ athlete of the year, as a standout in three sports — soccer, basketball and baseball.

It would be easy to get lost in the shadow of an older sibling who has enjoyed success, but Travis has made his own impact. “Our relationship was, he was definitely more like yelling at me,” Travis said. “I learned a lot under him. I guess we have similar playing styles in most sports. He helped me grow as a younger kid when I was on varsity.”

Travis, who is 5’11” and 170 lbs., said that he tried to emulate Jack with “the way he carried himself. That helped me learn.”

Besides being a goalkeeper, Travis is a forward in basketball and a shortstop and first base on the baseball team. When he started soccer, Travis played the field before deciding to try his hand, or rather hands, in the net.

“During junior high, I just played the field,” he said. “But in my freshman year, I knew I was definitely better in goal.”

His varsity debut was a 2-0 win over favored Southampton on Sept. 2, 2022. Travis, who said he “probably felt pretty nervous,” made 11 saves that day.

“It was definitely a lot different than it’s been the last couple years,” he said. “I don’t really think we were expected to do anything good that game. Just winning it was really important. I just happened to get a shutout. It definitely was one of the best moments.”

Ruggi knows that Travis, 17, gives Southold a solid presence in the net. “I sleep well at night, knowing that we’re going to have him back there protecting our goal,” he said.

Like other Suffolk County schools, the Settlers will begin official training on Monday, Aug. 25. They will open their League IV season at Port Jefferson on Thursday, Sept. 4.

Travis is looking forward to the season.

“I feel like every year is a big year,” he said. “It’s always different. You never know what’s going to happen.”

If history plays itself out, it is a good bet that Travis Sepenoski should have one memorable senior year.