[PHOTOS] West Islip Clips Connetquot

West Islip will be the top seed in the Division I lacrosse playoffs as the Lions defeated Connetquot 13-7 Thursday at the high school.

The game, originally scheduled to be played at Connetquot, was moved to West Islip as heavy rains earlier in the week rendered the fields at Connetquot unplayable.

While the Lions performance was not as sharp as Head Coach Scott Craig would have liked, West Islip nonetheless ramped up in scoring when it was needed. Leading 7-4 at the half, the Lions outscored the Thunderbirds 6-1 in the third quarter to put the game away.

Anthony DeLuca led West Islip with three goals and three assists and Tom Moore also scored three goals.

With the regular season now behind the Lions (15-1), the team will next see the field Tuesday, May 22, in the second round of the county playoffs. 

Over the next 11 days, the team will go through several practices, take a fishing trip out of Captree and scrimmage Bayport-Blue Point, Craig said.

While prognosticators thought this might be a bit of an off year for West Islip, the team has show resiliency during the season and is now ranked in the Top-10 nationally. 

"I've been surprised at how this team has risen to the occasion in big spots," Craig said. "But at other times like today, they have made me pull my hair out."