MANZO 3 GOALS; COHEN, MOKRZYCKI, WOJCIK 2 GOALS
Revenge for a previous loss must have been on the minds of the fifthseeded Montclair High School girls lacrosse Mounties when they came to Gary Kehler Stadium in Westfield to face the fourth-seeded Blue Devils in the quarterfinal round of the North Jersey, Group 4 Tournament on May 29. The Mounties jumped out to an early lead and maintained their focus throughout to earn a 17-11 victory.
Interestingly just two weeks ago (May 16), the Montclair girls were beaten convincingly by the Blue Devils, 16-8. This time, the 11-8 Mounties seized a 5-2, first-quarter lead and only permitted the 10-10 Blue Devils to come within one goal midway through the second quarter before pulling away.
Olivia Nicoll led the Montclair girls with seven goals, an assist and a draw control. Keira Griswold stuffed in five goals and scooped three ground balls.Aven Hodgson netted four goals and an assist. Thea McGarry scored once and added an assist. Liz Giordano finished with an assist, six draw controls and a ground ball. Hannah Saraisky,Ava Rosendorf and Delilah Nicoll each scooped a ground ball. Goalkeeper Sefina Morrison recorded 13 saves. Alice Manzo put in three goals and added four draw controls for Westfield. Maeve Wojcik scored twice, had 10 draw controls and scooped a ground ball.Abi Mokrzycki scored twice and had seven draws.
Gillian Cohen scored twice, dished out three assists and scooped a ground ball. Lucy Mineo netted a goal and an assist. Juliana Molinelli scored once. Erin Hazard and Sara Rooney each scooped a ground ball. Goalkeeper Kaitlyn Czarnecki made four saves.
Montclair took a 3-1 lead when Griswold scored her first goal with 4:28 left in the first quarter. Mokrzycki came back a minute later to make the score 3-2 but Griswold stuffed in her second goal when she sprinted in from midfield and struck gold with 2:04 on the clock. Montclair made the score 5-2 with just 19 seconds left in the quarter.
Less than a minute into the second quarter, the Blue Devils won the draw and Manzo flicked in a right-hand shot. With 8:10 showing, McGarry upped the lead to 6-3. Wojcik answered less than a minute later but Olivia Nicoll slammed one in midway through the second quarter. With 5:37 left in the half, Cohen pulled off a slick, underhanded one-hopper to make the score 7-5. The Blue Devils then came to within one goal when Mokrzycki pushed one in from close range with 4:29 on the clock. Olivia Nicoll wasted little time when she scored 38 seconds later. With 1:50 left, Griswold added a wraparound stuff then with just four seconds remaining in the half, Manzo cut the lead to 9-7.
Trailing by two goals, the Blue Devils just could not catch the Mounties in the third quarter as Montclair upped its lead to 14-10. The Mounties stretched their lead by outscoring the Blue Devils, 3-1, in the final quarter.
Montclair would play the topseeded, 20-1 Morristown Colonials in the semifinal round on May 31.
Montclair 5 4 5 3 17 Westfield 2 5 3 1 11
