Drawing the top seed in the Shore Conference Tournament (SCT) is nothing new for the Rumson-Fair Haven High School girls lacrosse team. It entered each tournament since 2009 as the No. 1 seed and even earned the program’s first title in 2010.
However, the seeding hasn’t always translated into championships. The Bulldogs (16-5) fell short of expectations the past two years, losing in the finals to Shore Regional High School in 2011 and in a semifinals matchup against Manasquan High School a year ago. They hoped to get over the hump during this year’s SCT.
“It’s something we’ve been working on — handling the more high-pressure situations,” head coach Amy O’Keefe said.
The Bulldogs earned the ability to put that hard work into practice when they blew through the first three rounds of the tournament and advanced to a finals showdown against Red Bank Catholic (RBC) High School on May 17 at Monmouth University. Thanks to strong goaltending and controlling the pace for much of the second half, Rumson-Fair Haven secured a 14-9 victory and its first conference championship in three years.
“I felt like it was definitely long overdue,” O’Keefe said. “It feels great. The girls worked really hard; they really wanted it. They earned it, for sure. And it all came together.”
The teams played it close in the first half, with Rumson-Fair Haven closing it out with an 8-6 lead. The Bulldogs cushioned that advantage with three goals early in the second half, and they remained up, 11-7, entering the final few minutes. The Caseys managed to add two more goals before the game ended, but the Bulldogs maintained the offensive edge and received a strong performance all game from senior goalie Maddie Mullen to earn the championship victory.
“She had an unbelievable game,” O’Keefe said about Mullen, who made eight saves. “She denied [RBC’s] Grace Fallon three goals that could have changed the momentum. “I give her so much credit,” the coach added. “She has really worked hard to become a better goalie. It’s just really starting to show this year. I’m just so psyched for her.”
Rumson-Fair Haven and RBC previously met during the regular season in an April 24 matchup. The Bulldogs also won that game, 13-7, in the Caseys’ only other loss this season. O’Keefe knew her team would need to play with a more balanced approach in the second meeting.
“We knew it had to be a collective thing,” she said. “[RBC’s] attack would be pressuring more than in the first game. We had to possess the ball and not force anything. The attack had to do [its] thing, and the defense had to do [its] thing. We would not have succeeded if it was just one-sided.”
Juniors Mary Scarrone and Nicolette Dunphy led the scoring, much like they have throughout the SCT, with four goals apiece. Scarrone also had two assists, while fellow junior Bridget Curran added two goals, two assists and three ground balls. Seniors Emily Hayes and Emily Knapp — as well as freshmen Maggie Jennings and Jillian Swikart, who picked up four ground balls — contributed one goal each.
The Bulldogs’ march to the finals started with a 16-1 victory over Barnegat High School in the opening round. They followed that with a 15-3 quarterfinals win over Toms River High School South and a 14-3 triumph in the semifinals against Colts Neck High School.
For the tournament, Rumson-Fair Haven outscored its opponents 59-16, including a 45-7 showing in the first three rounds.
The team’s offensive has come through, despite being a work in progress since the beginning of the season, according to O’Keefe.
“We were having some trouble scoring at the beginning of the season,” the coach said. “It was like we were not [turning] a good percentage of our shots [into goals]. We needed to work on it.
“The girls realized they needed to be more aggressive and get in there,” she added. “The past couple of games, we were able to get into the [eight-meter arc] and get a quality shot off. In the beginning of the season, we were not taking smart shots. It was something we had to work on — having more patience and [not forcing] the shot.”
The team has worked on its defense, developing a system through communication and playing better on the attack to “make it harder for a team to get down on their end,” according to O’Keefe.
Rumson-Fair Haven hopes to continue this success in the state tournament, where another encounter against RBC is possible.
They both play in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group II state sectional tournament bracket, which kicked off on May 16. The No. 3 Bulldogs won their first-round contest against No. 14 seed Middle Township High School, 17-1, on May 18 and were scheduled to play No. 6 seed Robbinsville High School on May 21. If Rumson-Fair Haven defeats Robbinsville and RBC wins its quarterfinals game against No. 10 seed Northern Burlington County Regional High School on May 21, the Bulldogs and Caseys will face each other for the third time this year in the semifinals on May 23.