It was a historic night for St. Mary’s boys’ lacrosse, in more ways than one.

Goalie Dylan Tait made 15 saves to move past the 500-save mark for his career, and the No. 8 Pirates (12-4) picked up their first postseason victory in program history, 8-3 over No. 9 Thompson Valley, in Tuesday’s first round of the 4A state playoffs.

“My defense played so well in front of me, and that gave me more confidence against a good offensive team like Thompson Valley,” Tait said. “This team beat us four years ago when I was a freshman in our first-ever playoff game. The seniors remembered that, and we got revenge tonight.”

St. Mary’s fell 7-1 to Thompson Valley in 2013, and this was the first time since that night the Pirates competed in the playoffs.

St. Mary’s used a team effort to dispatch the Eagles, but Wes Moran shined on offense, outscoring Thompson Valley 4-3 on his own. Moran scored all four of his goals in the first half, helping St. Mary’s build a 5-1 halftime advantage.

“We have a lot of seniors on this team, and most of us have played together since fifth grade, so if this was our last home game, a win means a lot,” Moran said. “We’ve been working hard together for four years, and it’s nice to see the work pay off. We have a tough game on Friday, but crazier things have happened.”

The Pirates will travel to Dawson School on Friday to face the 15-1, top-ranked Mustangs in the state quarterfinals. It’ll be a tall task, but if the St. Mary’s defense shows up like it did Tuesday, anything is possible.

The Pirates’ defense and Tait more than held up their end of the bargain, holding a team which averaged 10.2 goals this season to just three.

“The defense played well as a unit tonight, and Dylan played great as well,” said St. Mary’s Coach Ike Anderson, who’s in his fourth year at the helm. “Wes, Drew (Chesire) and the whole offense had one of their best games of the season, and I’m very proud of this team. Getting a playoff win and going to the quarterfinals is big for our program.”

Chesire chipped in two goals and an assist, and Kyler Kasten added two goals and three assists for St. Mary’s, which took control after a 1-1 first quarter.

The Pirates showed great patience on both sides of the field, not making mistakes on defense, and being methodical on offense, which resulted in plenty of good scoring chances.

“They have a good faceoff guy and can control possession, but we did a solid job of playing our game and having long possessions, which took the wind out of their sails,” Moran said.

Tait realizes he’ll need a big performance for his team to have a chance against Dawson School, but is confident in himself and his team.

“We can do this,” he said, “if we play at the highest level we’re capable of and compete in every aspect, we can beat them.”