WW-P North girls lacrosse holds on for second title in four years
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
The West Windsor-Plainsboro High North girls lacrosse team has made a habit of reaching the Mercer County Tournament championship game.
And now the Knights are making winning the championship a habit as well. North won its second title in three years when it topped Princeton, 13-11, in the MCT final on Saturday at WW-P South. The Knights had won the title in 2012 and got in the championship game to Allentown a year ago.
”This is huge,” said senior Julia Tampellini, who had four goals in the win on Saturday. “I have been looking forward to this game for a year now. It was about redemption and I am proud of the way everyone played today.”
Olivia Harpel scored five goals and Tampellini added four as the Knights pulled away in the second half and then withstood a late Princeton rally for their second MCT title. It was North’s fourth straight appearance in the championship game.
”It is never easy,” said North coach Beth Serughetti, whose team improved to 17-1 on the season. “Sometimes it is considered harder when you are expected to win and you are the No. 1 seed. I think from the beginning of the season we had this target on our back and we had to work hard each and every game. The girls really put it together and there was a strong desire to work hard and achieve their goals. I couldn’t be prouder.
”These girls have never been complacent. They have always known each and every game is going to be a fight no matter how many times you play a team or what their record is.”
Tampellini, a defender most of her career, has played more of an offensive role this year and has shined for the Knights.
”It just kind of happened in the game,” said Tampellini, who scored three of her four goals in the opening half. “I wasn’t really thinking too much about it before. It just worked out. Offense is always fun, but I have always been comfortable with defense and it is nice to try something new. I just worked on it a lot this year.”
The Knights have not had much trouble scoring all season. And when you add in a defense that is able to shut down some high-powered offenses, including Princeton’s, it makes for a strong team.
”Eva (Boal) did a phenomenal job today,” Tampellini said of the Knights’ goalie. “The defense came into it with the right mentality and worked super hard. I think every part of the field has its strong parts and there is no weak part of our team, which is awesome.
”(Princeton) is an awesome team and has really strong players so we knew they would be fired up because we beat them in the regular season. So we knew we had to be just as fired up.”
Tampellini and the rest of the North seniors made four straight trips to the finals and now have two titles to show for their efforts.
”This is all we could ask for and all we wanted,” Tampellini said. “It has been a goal for four years now. It just shows that you can’t take anything for granted and we learned you have to take every step of the way as it is coming and really focus on every game and not take any team lightly.”
Princeton came into the final riding a 13-game winning streak and nearly pulled out a win. Emilia Lopez-Ona scored four times for the Little Tigers, while Gabby Gibbens added three goals. Princeton trailed, 13-8, before scoring three times in the closing minutes to make the end exciting.
”We would definitely have a strong moment and then fizzle out a little,” said Princeton coach Kelsey O’Gorman, whose team fell to 14-3. “But at the 2:08 mark having that time out and coming out of it and having the energy to fight that hard at the end and score three goals shows the character of the girls. I am glad they never gave up and they just fought really hard to the end.”