By Anthony Caruso III
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/14/19
Moorestown knew it needed to take its best shot to win in overtime after Haddonfield had scored two late goals to force an extra frame Saturday in a showdown of South Jersey’s top girls’ lacrosse teams.
So after winning the draw, Quakers first-year head coach Colleen Hancox called a play for her best player to get the ball.
Off a pass from Ashley Nutt, Kayla Frank tallied the game-winner 1:47 into the OT for a 9-8 victory, keeping Moorestown (No. 1 in the Phillylacrosse.com Rankings) undefeated at 6-0.
“We have a play, where I go to the top,” said Frank, a Virginia Tech signee who had two goals and an assist. “And I go 1v1 and my defender overplayed me so I decided to do a backdoor slip. Ashley is very good at looking for me and I got the goal.”
This was a rematch of the 2018 Tournament of Champions semifinal which Moorestown won, 13-3, on its way to the TofC title. Haddonfield (5-1) is ranked No, 7 by Phillylacrosse.com.
The Bulldawgs had pulled even, 8-8, on goals by McKenzie Blake (3G, 1A, 9GB, 6DC) and Wayden Ay (3G, 4 DC) in the final minutes of regulation. With three seconds left, Ay had an 8-meter stopped by goalie Logan Lillie (6 saves) to send the game into overtime.
“You want good competitive games, especially in the start of the season,” Hancox said. “Because that will only help you know what you need to work on for your ultimate goal.
“That’s what we did well [on Saturday] and take what we didn’t do well and work on it during practice. I want this team to be a better team in a month from now.”
Janey Galski had three goals and an assist and Dylan Silar scored twice for Moorestown. Julia Sullivan had seven groundballs and six draw controls.
“We knew this was going to be a very competitive game,” Hancox said. “Haddonfield has a really awesome 2019 class. They have three studs and a great group of girls, too.
“Knowing it was going to be competitive, we knew we had to come in and fight, as well. It means a lot for them to go through a bunch of tough situations, like this game had, and still staying really calm and preserving in the end.”
Moorestown led, 5-3, at halftime, and then 6-4 before Blake and Ay scored to tie it. Rylee Brown and Galski scored to make it 8-6.
In each half Blake had a goal called off due to shooting space calls as the ball went into the cage. Each time Blake failed to convert the 8-meter.
“We have a very balanced attack,” Hancox said. “Different girls have different strengths. We were able to utilize all seven girls — and eight or nine girls if you consider the girls we used off the bench, as well. They are all composed and confident finishers for us.”
“Haddonfield has improved a lot over the years,” Frank said. “It is almost like a rivalry for us. It is exciting to play them.”
Moorestown 9, Haddonfield 8, OT
Haddonfield (5-1) 3 5 0 -8
Moorestown (6-0) 5 3 1 -9
Moorestown
Janey Galski 3g, 1a
Kayla Frank 2g, 1a
Julia Sullivan 7gb, 6 dc
Ashley Nutt 4a
Isa Arvelo 1g
Dylan Silar 2g
Rylee Brown 1g, 1a
Logan Lillie 6 saves
Haddonfield
McKenzie Blake 3g, 1a, 9gb, 6 dc
Caroline Beckett 1g
Wayden Ay 3g, 4 DC
Ashley Campo 1g
Maya Feinstein 3 saves
