WW-P North girls lacrosse edged in sectional final
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
This was supposed to be the year when the West Windsor-Plainsboro North girls lacrosse program made history.
The Knights played all season with the idea that they were building toward something more than they had ever done. WW-P North secured another Mercer County Tournament title, but the sectional crown eluded them again.
Second-seeded WW-P North lost at top-seeded Lenape, 17-14, in the South Jersey, Group IV final Thursday.
”It’s hard,” said Knights head coach Beth Serughetti. “As a coach you want to see their success. You want them to experience something as special as a sectional title. Unfortunately it wasn’t able to happen for them. I’m so proud of them.
”If there’s any frustration, I put it on myself. Most coaches and athletes are going to think in retrospect, what they could have done differently. Each and every girl is at home thinking what I’m thinking — what could I have done differently?”
Nothing in the beginning. The Knights came out flying. They looked like a team starving for its first sectional crown as they jumped out to a 6-1 lead.
”Then they started to get a momentum shift and with five seconds left before halftime they tied the game,” Serughetti said. “They just maintained the momentum in the second half. Our girls put forth a ton of effort. I’m so proud of all of them.”
Once Lenape had the lead, WW-P North never could quite close the gap as they fell to 20-2 on the season. Their only other loss came to South Jersey, Group III champion and top-ranked Moorestown. Their second loss ended one of the most memorable years in Knights history.
”Our chemistry was amazing,” Serughetti said. “The love on this team. . . We had all these talented girls without egos. We had girls that love the game and loved being together. It’s a rarity to have it. I would be shocked if many other coaches experience this, that’s how special it is.”
The difference was the draw controls. With both offenses so skilled, it was tough to stop whichever team won the draw. Once Lenape started to win them, they kept winning them and that made stopping Lenape’s momentum all the tougher.
”It was so key in this game,” Serughetti said. “We were getting a majority of them the first half. When it started to slip away it was due to draw controls, to possession.”
Olivia Harpel led the Knights with four goals, Alex Hendry had three goals, Carli Harpel and Vic L’Insalata had two goals apiece, and Morgan Hendry, Talise Redmond and Julia Tampellini all had single goals.
The Knights will graduate nine seniors that began to push the program to new heights. They were playing in their second sectional final in three years.
”Nine wonderful, amazing, awesome, loving seniors,” Serughetti said. “Every single one of them is awesome. They don’t all start. I have girls that don’t start that are such contributors. They’re extremely hard working and they see the field well and they’re supportive and they’re always there for their teammates. At halftime and time outs, they’re able to verbalize what they see, and they’re spot on.
”When you have girls that don’t get in all the time and are still so supportive and care and want to be there, that’s a rarity.”
It is just one of the many things that Serughetti is hopeful that her returning players will keep going next year. The senior class leaves just short of adding its first sectional title, but the Knights were divisional, conference and county champions this year.
”They’ve certainly left an imprint on all of these girls,” Serughetti said. “They were all phenomenal leaders. I do believe that the underclassmen have absorbed a lot of the great example of the seniors. I definitely hope that they take that great example and step up next year. If they do that, we’ll have another great season. We do have several quality lacrosse players coming back."