For the second straight playoff game, Chatham Girls’ High School (N.J.) lacrosse team jumped out to a commanding lead, 9-2, with less than 13 minutes to go in the first half.
Thusly, the top-seeded Cougars (15-4), led by senior Stella Straka’s five tallies, rode that momentum to a 19-8 victory over Ramapo (4-16) in the NJSIAA Quarterfinal Round of the North Jersey, Group 3 Tournament at Hass Field Tuesday afternoon.
Junior Cam McGlynn (2 goals, 3 assists) had registered five points as did senior Ashley Kiernen (4 goals. 1 assist) in the lopsided win. Senior Sophia Claps chipped in with four points on two markers and two helpers.
“Well, a lot of my teammates were getting open, so I was able to feed it to them and they were finishing really well, and they were passing it to me,” McGlynn said. “All around, I feel like it was a good game. We’re excited to continue through states.”
Chatham head coach Helen McCutcheon-Oliver gave a ton of credit to the team’s defensive transition for allowing the offesnse to get out in front and find the back of the net on several scoring chances.
“Obliviously, it’s a huge team win today,” McCutcheon-Oliver said. “Lot of goal scoring, lot of transition. We have been working on a lot of defensive transition, which also looked really beautiful. Now, the girls know we have to win in order to play again.”
Three more goals, which included ones by Straka and senior Jane Middleton, gave the Cougars a 12-4 advantage heading into the break.
McGlynn opened up the second half scoring with a marker just 15 seconds into the festivities, to make it 13-4.
Chatham found the back of the net twice more to widen the margin at 15-5 with 21:09 remaining in the contest.
The Raiders responded with two tallies of their own to slice the deficit to 15-7. But Straka spurred a three-goal run to swell the lead to 11 and squelched any hopes of a Ramapo comeback.
The Cougars host North Hunterdon Thursday at 3:00 p.m. in North Jersey, Group 3 semifinal action.
— Jerry Del Priore
NY NJ Sports World/Brooklyn Sports World 