Floyd's Kayla Gilmore quick on the draw in girls lacrosse win 

It doesn’t always show up in the boxscore, but it can be one of the most important aspects of a girls lacrosse game.

The draw.

Every game begins with a draw and restarts after each goal with a draw. What could be viewed as a 50/50 opportunity for each team to possess the ball after a goal can be anything but that when you have an impact player taking and surrounding the draws.

Kayla Gilmore is one of the best on Long Island at taking draws. She pairs with Kayden Meyer, who is exceptional at scooping up ground balls or helping Gilmore gain possession. Floyd dominated on the draw en route to a 16-7 victory over host Commack in Suffolk Division I girls lacrosse on Monday.

“Going into every draw, it’s about confidence,” Gilmore said. “And I know the people on the circle are going to have my back and box out and do what they need to do to allow me to beat the other girl to the ball or catch it in my stick. We all work very well together.”

Jacky Sutherland had five goals and an assist, Emma DiMaio added three goals and three assists and Gilmore had three goals and two assists for Floyd.

“It was definitely a statement game,” Gilmore said. “I think coming off last season, we suffered a hard loss to Ward Melville [in the semifinals], so we’re just here to show people who we are and we’re ready for this season. We’re ready to go and we’re ready to come out strong.”

Commack scored the game’s first two goals, but Floyd answered with three straight and six of seven goals to take a 6-3 lead midway through the first half.

“The first two goals were only motivation,” Sutherland said. “We were prepared for this team so we knew what was coming. We fixed it, we came down and showed them what we can do.”

Ashley Kolomechuk had three goals and an assist and Amelia Brite had two goals and two assists for Commack (1-1).

Floyd opened a 9-4 lead at halftime and scored the first seven goals of the second half.

“I’m just proud of them that they stayed calm the whole time,” coach Nicole Alesi said. “They didn’t let that 2-0 run get to them. We made some little adjustments, we fixed some things and they just stayed calm, worked hard and did what they had to do on the field.”

Sometimes the best defense in girls lacrosse can be a strong draw control. It frustrates the opponent and doesn’t let its offense get into rhythm. Floyd accomplished that Monday.

“Having the possession off the draw is huge, so every time we were able to get the possession off the draw was big,” Alesi said. “Everyone stepped up big on the draw.”