No. 25 Ranked William Floyd Lady Colonials Team Preview

This year William Floyd enters as the 25th ranked team in the LILJ preseason rankings. They are fresh off of playing the LILJ High School Winter League where they went 2-4 but got great experience in preparation for the spring season. It was a great 2021 season for the Colonials as they went 12-4 and ended a playoff drought of almost 10 years. Their season ended last year in the quarterfinals against Smithtown East in Suffolk’s Class A Conference. They are led by Head Coach Paul Vassallo who shared his thoughts on the upcoming season.

“We have returned all starters but one. We are excited to join the top ranked teams in the conference after being ranked #5 in Conference A for the 2022 season. We are super proud of this accomplishment, but with that comes a tough schedule with high expectations.” With the majority of their team still intact, this will serve as a big advantage this season based on the chemistry that they developed from last year. Their offense is engineered by sophomore midfielder Kayla Gilmore who had a team high 61 points last season. She was also dominant in the draw circle, winning 24 draws a year ago. Alongside her at the midfield position are fellow sophomores Kayden Meyer and Jackie Sutherland. Some of their upperclassmen who will also play a vital role in their success this year are seniors Cynthia Barnosky (Plattsburgh) and Tara DiMaio. On the defensive side they will be anchored by junior defender Emily Murtha (Dominican) and senior goalie Amanda Jones. This defense held teams under 10 goals in 12 of 16 games last season. The only player that graduated from this team is Olivia Iodice who was their lefty low attacker. William Floyd even has a couple young guns that could potentially see some action this year in freshmen Ava Tiedeman and Madison Widecki. Both of them were able to get experience under their belts in the winter league. The Colonials have also had a few notable alumni that have come up through their lacrosse program as well. These players are Courtney Murphy, Octavia Williams, Jackie Ardolino, and Jackie Andersen. This year William Floyd has a few notable games on their schedule this season against some tough divisional opponents. They play at home against Ward Melville on April 5th, at Smithtown East on April 11th, and home against Northport on April 20th. These are measuring stick games that can show where they stack up against some other top tier teams.