North, South girls’ lacrosse win first round of states

Knights crush Jefferson, Pirates work overtime to advance

By: Bob Nuse
   The West Windsor-Plainsboro High North and WW-P South girls’ lacrosse teams both opened play in the state tournament with wins on Tuesday. But that’s where the similarity ends between the two teams.
   While the sixth-seeded Knights had little trouble disposing of Jefferson, 14-2, in their game, the eighth-seeded Pirates were pulling out a dramatic overtime win to beat West Morris.
   WW-P North cruised to a 9-0 halftime lead on the way to its win, which set up a quarterfinal matchup at third-seeded Northern Highlands, which was scheduled for Thursday. WW-P South got a goal from Rashanna Edwards with eight seconds left in regulation to force overtime, then another goal from Edwards in overtime to win the game, 14-13. South advanced to face top-seeded Bridgewater in a game that was scheduled to be played on Thursday.
   Princeton opened play in the state tournament on Monday, dropping a 13-6 decision at Montclair. The Little Tigers were led by Lisa Hayes with three goals, while Amanda Sustak added two goals.
   "We were down, 8-4, but we were able to come back with a big second half," said South coach Kris Javick, whose team improved to 8-5 with the win. "One of our goals coming into the season was to go further in the states than we did last year. It was great for the girls to get a win, especially like this.
   "We had a slow start in the first half but we came back. It was a total team effort. Everyone played well. Shanna scored with eight seconds left in regulation to tie the game, then she scored again in overtime to win the game. The girls were really pumped up."
   The win gave the Pirates a chance to see how they stack up against the No. 1 seed. A year ago, South lost to Hunterdon Central in the opening round. This year, they faced Bridgewater on Thursday with a team that plays a different style than last year’s squad. While the Pirates relied on Gio Buono for most of their offense last year, they come at teams with a balanced offense this year.
   "We have a lot of different people who can score," said Javick, whose team has six players who have scored at least 12 goals this year. "Last year we had Gio (60 goals) and she could score and did most of our scoring. This year it is much more spread out. We have a lot of different girls who are capable of scoring goals. I think that makes us a more difficult team to play defense against.
   "Last year teams would try to shut down Gio. This year we have different people who are able to score and that makes it tougher for the defense."
   In the win over West Morris, Edwards, Keri Denaro and Meagan Fitzgerald led the way with three goals apiece. Jess Sherding scored twice for the Pirates, while Christina McGovern, Amy Skapyak and Natalie Deschamps added one goal apiece.
   North didn’t have to sweat out its win on Tuesday. The Knights improved to 12-2-1 by jumping to 9-0 lead at halftime. Their play got a little sloppy in the second half, but by then the game was decided.
   "I think the girls know they didn’t have to work extremely hard," North coach Beth Mitchell said. "This game was a perfect example of getting a few goals ahead and then pulling back a little. It’s hard to keep it going from the beginning to the end. But it’s disappointing because balls that should be being caught are being dropped and we’re playing sloppy defense.
   "It’s tough to keep up your concentration level. I was happy with the first half, but not as happy with the second half."
   The win was the fourth in a row for the Knights, who are 7-0-1 in their last eight games.
   "I’ve been quite pleased with a lot of my players," Mitchell said. "You need to be able to have confidence in the players on your bench and we have a solid 15 girls that have been playing and contributing. I’m confident in any of them that are in the game at a given time.
   "We have a bunch of girls who have really started to contribute. Wynne Hydo, Sara Lacenere, Claire Dysart, Jaclyn Orloff, Christine Su in goal. They’re all players who have started to contribute more and have had a larger role as the season has gone on. Kristen Glover is another player who has done that. She was hurt for a while but now she is back."
   Throughout the year the Knights, like the Pirates, have been a balanced offensive team. They’ve also been solid on defense, allowing more than nine goals just four times all season long.
   "We had hoped to play a little better, but we were still excited to get the win," said North’s Jessica Snyder, who has been one of the team’s top defensive players this season. "Last year our first state game was similar to this. We feel like we’ve pulled it together and we’re helping each other out. We played well in the first half, but the second half we didn’t play as well."
   Snyder knows the Knights need to play well against a team like Northern Highlands. And she doesn’t mind being one of the players stopping goals rather than scoring them.
   "I love to play defense," said Snyder, who is the goalie for the Knights’ field hockey team. "I like to stop the ball. I think defense is the better place to be. It’s great to know that you have a chance to stop someone else from scoring. It doesn’t matter to me if I score. I love defense and I think we all work well together. We have a nice bond between us."
   In the case of both North and South, it also doesn’t matter how you win. For both, getting beyond the first round was a thrill in itself.