With the game tied 3-3, senior and University of Richmond commit Grace Hallahan found the back of the net with 0.07 seconds left in the first half to give Chatham High School (N.J.) a 4-3 lead.
The Hallahan tally provided the Cougars with all the momentum that they needed in the second half to down Westfield, 13-7, Tuesday evening at home.
“Our goal in the second half was to pull away, which we did,” head coach Helen McCutcheon-Oliver said. “When we pulled away, then we had a cushion to allow for some mistakes, which are going to happen no matter what.”
Even though Chatham came up short on draw controls, McCutcheon-Oliver said they somehow managed to pick up the victory.
“We found a way to win without winning a single draw,” McCutcheon-Oliver chuckled. “No, the center (made it) very, very hard for us to gain possession. I just think they were a little bit off on the circle in terms of being able to get the ball. Our jump timing was off, our sticks in front were off.”
But she did credit her defense for its stellar play, while the offense waited for its outburst.
“The defense was great,” she said. “We held them scoreless in the third quarter.”
Hallahan said that the team made the necessary adjustments to shut down the opposition, which helped it ultimately emerge victorious.
“As soon as we recognized what was going on, we went with that and slid over and worked to them and what they were doing,” Hallahan said. “So that changed the game.”
The Blue Devils put up the first marker of the game to give them a 1-0 advantage with 3:52 remaining in the first period.
But Hallahan responded with a goal of her own to knot the tilt at 1-1 with 0.08 to go in the first quarter.
Not to be outdone, Westfield scored again to pull ahead, 2-1, with 10:19 left in the second period.
But sophomore Simone Claps made it an even 2-2 with 8:27 remaining in the second quarter.
A little over a minute later, the Blue Devils retook the lead at 3-2. True to the game’s early running theme, junior Peyton Furst re-tied the contest for Chatham at three all at the 7:06 mark of the second period.
After Hallahan scored at the end of the second half, five unanswered Cougar goals from Ashlyn Carpenter (twice), Hallahan, Ava Cantillion, Nicky Grossman, her first career high school varsity marker swelled Chatham’s lead to 9-3 with 4:10 to go in the third period.
Hallahan rattled the cage again to give the Cougars a commanding seven-goal advantage early in the fourth quarter.
Westfield junior Alice Manzo found the back of the net twice, and senior Abi Mokrzycki added a tally to draw the affair a bit closer.
However, goals from Furst and Cantillion put the game to bed for Chatham.
Hallahan led all scorers with four markers, while Cantillion, Carpenter and Furst registered two tallies apiece.
Manzo and junior Gillian Cohen had three goals each for the Blue Devils.
The Cougars travel to West Essex Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
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