South Fork Boys Lacrosse Off to Hottest Start in Program History, but Schedule Gets Immediately Tougher This Week

The South Fork boys lacrosse team is off to what is most likely its hottest start to a season since it became a combined program in 2017.

After defeating Eastport-South Manor, 9-6, in a nonleague game on March 21 to start the season, the Islanders handled host Copiague with ease, picking up a 22-2 victory, then shut out North Babylon, 20-0, in their first home game of the season played at East Hampton High School on Saturday. That marked the fifth shut out in program history.

ESM was a good first test for South Fork, which trailed, 4-1, after the first quarter, only to outscored the Sharks, 8-2, the rest of the game. East Hampton seniors Jack Cooper and Charlie Corwin and Hampton Bays senior Isaiah Lattanzio each scored two goals and Southampton’s Oliver Edson made five saves in goal.

Copiague and North Babylon have perennially been weak programs, so getting the victories over the two were not surprises, but it was the dominating fashion in which the Islanders did it that may have opened some eyes around the county that they’re firing on all cylinders to start the season. South Fork head coach Matt Babb, who said he doesn’t think the program has ever started a season 3-0, admitted Tuesday morning that he’s not a fan of playing those weaker programs early, but he’ll certainly take the wins.

“We haven’t been perfect, but we definitely showed some success within the new systems [and] strategies we implemented this year,” he said. “These last two games are not my favorite types of games. Sometimes the kids kind of forget about the systems and become focused on their stats. That was the case in the Copiague game, but I think we did a better job of staying disciplined and letting the game come to us against North Babylon. Nobody was trying to do too much.

“I’d prefer to have games like these toward the end of the season, and they be used to give some needed rest from the season’s wear and tear to some starters.”

Hampton Bays junior Luca Lattanzio tallied eight points in the win over Copiague, scoring three goals and assisting on five others. Cooper and Corwin and Pierson’s Slate Glick each scored a hat trick. South Fork led 11-0 after the first quarter.

Luca Lattanzio scored five goals and had a pair of assists in the win over North Babylon, while his older brother Isaiah scored four goals. Glick also scored four goals and Corwin tallied four points with a pair of goals. Edson was not busy in goal but he did make three saves to get credit for the shutout.

Babb said a lot of the early success has to be attributed to the team’s success in faceoffs, particularly Cooper, who has won an eye-opening 88 percent (35 of 40) of his draws so far.

“He guarantees us possessions, and with our entire starting offense having at least one year of varsity experience coming into this season, we can capitalize on those opportunities with our unselfish balanced scoring,” he said. “All six guys on the offensive end are a threat to score.”

The schedule certainly got tougher this week when South Fork played at Northport on Tuesday, results of which occurred too late to appear in this week’s edition. It will also host Sachem North this Thursday, April 4, at Hampton Bays High School at 4:30 p.m. and then will have a few days off before hosting Westhampton Beach in a nonleague game on Tuesday, April 9, at Southampton High School at 4:30 p.m.

“We currently have a very good team and look forward to competing for a playoff spot,” Babb said. “Starting 3-0 is great, but our focus remains on returning to the playoffs. It is a challenge going from playing Copiague and North Babylon to playing Northport and Sachem North, but I believe this group is capable.”