PLAYOFFS: Cyclones Boys Lax Routs Wheatley in 1st Round, 11-3

After playing a brutal non-conference schedule during the regular season, the South Side boy’s lacrosse team finally saw the fruits of their arduous journey, easily topping Wheatley 11-3 on Thursday to advance to the Nassau County quarterfinals.

Co-captains Bryan Gerrato, Patrick Finnerty and Zach Scaduto each had a hat trick for the Cyclones, who easily picked apart the Wheatley Wild Frogs zone defense in the first-round playoff match-up.

“We really came up fired up about the playoffs, and they were able to put the regular season losses behind them,” said head coach Steve DiPietro. “The guys understand that their season can end at any moment if they lose their focus and intensity for even one game.”

The Cyclones came out on fire out of the gate. Forty-eight seconds into the game, Finnerty got his team on the board after dodging through the Wheatley defense to put the ball in the top right corner of the cage. Four minutes later, Peter Clark found a cutting Scaduto, who easily buried another goal. Finnerty finished the quarter off in similar fashion, taking a pass from Clark from behind the net and sending it in the top left corner from eight yards out for a 3-0 lead.

“We were able to put this one away early, which was nice,” DiPietro said. “We were able to get everyone on and get them some playoff experience before the schedule gets tougher.”

South Side, who normally passes the ball around until they find a seam in the defense to attack the cage, utilized their outside shot against the Wild Frogs.  Gerrato had two shots from just inside the box that made its way into the net, and Scaduto ripped a 15-yard shot in the third quarter past the goalies foot to open the third quarter scoring.

South Side advances to play Lynbrook in the next round on Monday at Hofstra.

This will be the third year in a row that South Side has met the Owls in the playoffs. In each of the last two seasons, the Cyclones won the regular season matchup, but were eliminated by them in the playoffs.

This season, the Cyclones opened its league schedule with a 13-5 drubbing of the Owls, and DiPietro hopes that they can reverse their past history and advance to the semifinals.

“This will be the third year in a row that we’re facing them in the playoffs, and hopefully this time is different than the last two,” he said. “We just have to stick to what’s been working for us lately. We can’t have bad turnovers, and we have to use our athleticism and creativity to get an edge.  Their tough kids and it’s going to be a battle like it is every time we go up against them.”

South Side will match up against Lynbrook Monday at Hofstra.