The William Floyd Colonials boys’ varsity lacrosse team opened the postseason in impressive fashion this week, defeating South Fork 13-7 in a high-energy first-round playoff matchup that featured explosive offense and a historic individual milestone.
It was a memorable night for standout attacker PJ Gilhauley, who recorded his 200th career point during the victory. The milestone added even more excitement to an already electric atmosphere as the Colonials put together one of their strongest offensive performances of the season.
Gilhauley wasted no time making his presence felt, opening the scoring for William Floyd and later breaking a 1-1 tie with another goal that gave the Colonials a lead they would never surrender.
After taking a 2-1 advantage, the Colonials completely seized momentum with a dominant 6-1 scoring run to close out the first half. Jack Meyer started the surge before Marc Pluchino scored twice during the stretch. Ryan Murtha and Matt Filosa each added goals of their own, while Gilhauley capped off the impressive run by completing a first-half hat trick.
By halftime, William Floyd had built a commanding 8-2 lead and looked fully in control.
The Colonials continued the pressure in the third quarter as Filosa scored his second goal of the game to extend the lead even further. South Fork, however, showed some fight and responded with a 3-0 scoring run that briefly cut the deficit to 9-5 and gave the visitors some momentum.
William Floyd quickly answered the challenge.
Pluchino completed his own hat trick to stop the South Fork run before Matt Taiani added his first goal of the game to help the Colonials regain complete control heading into the fourth quarter.
From there, William Floyd closed things out in style. The defense tightened up and limited South Fork to just two goals in the final quarter while the offense continued to deliver. Filosa completed his hat trick, and Gilhauley added his fourth goal of the night to put the finishing touches on the 13-7 playoff victory.
While the offense grabbed much of the attention, goaltender Matt Shaw also turned in an outstanding performance between the pipes. Shaw made several clutch saves throughout the contest and helped keep South Fork from mounting a serious comeback.
With the victory, Coach Desmond Megna and the Colonials advance to the Section XI quarterfinals, where they will hit the road to face top-seeded Northport in what promises to be another exciting postseason battle.