Chatham High School Girl’s (N.J.) lacrosse team used a barrage of goals from senior Grace Hallahan (five) and junior Annie Irish (four) to blow past Wayne Hills, 20-7, Thursday at home in the first round of the North Jersey, Group 3 New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Group Tournament.
Even though the top-seeded Cougars (18-1) did not play a flawless game, according to Hallahan, she said they looked to begin their state playoff journey the right way: by playing well and winning.
“We wanted to get off to states to a really good start, because I know this is going to be a really hard run,” Hallahan said. “So, no matter how the score was, we just wanted to play a good game and give it our all. And I think we did that from the first whistle, even though we had a couple of mistakes, but we’ll come back from that.”
Hallahan, a University of Richmond commit, scored twice to give Chatham a 2-0 advantage in the first minute of the tilt.
However, Patriot sophomore Ana Cuccinello got one back, to make it 2-1 with 8:39 left in the first period.
But Irish and senior Ashlyn Carpenter responded with two markers apiece to extend the Cougars’ lead to 6-1 with just under four minutes to play in the first quarter.
Refusing to be outdone, Wayne Hills found the back of the net two more times to slice the deficit in half with 1:13 left in the first period.
Senior Ava Cantillion and junior Peyton Furst made it a five-goal game at the end of the first quarter, though.
Next, Chatham went off for four more scores to take a commanding 12-3 lead with 7:16 remaining in the first half.
The Cougars and the Patriots traded tallies, and Wayne Hills added another marker before Hallahan capped the third period with back-to-back goals to make it 16-5 with 2:38 to go in the period.
Off a free position score, the Patriots made it a 10-goal affair with 10:12 left in the fourth period.
But four more Chatham markers made it 20-6.
Wayne Hills sophomore Arianna Carrino, who concluded the year with 87 goals, ended the game’s scoring.
Hallahan added three assists, an impressive nine draw controls, and a ground ball to her credit. Irish also had two helpers, two draw controls, and ground ball, while Carpenter scored three tallies and had two helpers. Junior Nicolette Grossman found the back of the net tree times in the victory.
The Cougars face Mount Olive Monday (time is Y.T.D.) in the North Jersey, Group 3 quarterfinal round.
— Jerry Del Priore
NY NJ Sports World/Brooklyn Sports World 