Chatham High School (N.J.) Girl’s lacrosse dropped into unfamiliar territory, as it fell into a 3-0 hole against Montclair Kimberley Academy (MKA) with 6:55 remaining in the first quarter.
But the Cougars (16-1) fought from behind, with senior Grace Hallahan pacing the team with five goals, to upend MKA, 10-6, Saturday afternoon at home on Senior Day.
“Today, it was a great celebration for them,” Chatham head coach Helen McCutcheon Oliver said of her seniors–as well as the rest of the squad–emerging victorious. “MK played an outrageously great game and made it very tight. And we’re glad to have another win.”
After trailing 3-0, senior attacker Ashlyn Carpenter found the back of the net to get the Cougars on the scoreboard at 3-1 with 1:36 to go in the first period (Check out video below).
Chatham’s Ashlyn Carpenter scores on free position shot.
Next, Hallahan registered her first tally of the tilt to cut the deficit to 3-2, just 11 seconds later in the first quarter.
Much to Chatham’s dismay, MKA (8-9) responded with another marker to make it 4-2 with 11:21 left in the first half.
But Cougar senior Ava Cantillion and junior Leah Tapper knotted up the game at 4-4 before Hallahan, assisted by Carpenter, added another goal to take a 5-4 lead with 0.11 seconds remaining in the first half.
Two more Chatham markers had them pulling ahead at 7-4 with 8:48 to go in the third period.
Refusing to lay down, however, MKA answered back with a goal of its own to narrow the gap at 7-5 55 seconds later.
MKA added another tally just 0.42 seconds into the fourth quarter to shrink the margin to a single score.
But Carpenter made good on a free position shot to run the game to 8-6 with 6:26 left in the fourth quarter.
Hallahan, who also forced two turnovers, tacked on two goals to help seal the deal for the Cougars.
“She was a good goalie. A lot our shots weren’t going in, especially my own,” the University of Richmond commit admitted. “But I feel like in the end, we really pulled it together. We knew we wanted to get this one for the seniors.”
Now “one more game in the regular season, and I hope we can be undefeated (in New Jersey), she added.”
Carpenter enjoyed an impressive game by registering three markers and two helpers, while Cantillion had a goal and an assist.
“It was really fun to being able play with all the seniors, too,” Carpenter said. “But this team was a really good match for us. They came out really strong, so we had to match the pressure, and we took it from there.”
Senior Sadie Clarke scooped up five groundballs and had two ball controls in the victory.
“I knew Mk was really competition and I knew I had to go out there and work my best on the circle,” Clarke explained. “And Grace helped direct me where the ball was going, and we had a great game.”
Chatham looks to go perfect in New Jersey against Northern Highlands Tuesday at 4:15 p.m. at Haas Field.
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