Old Bridge High School’s Sam Potts, left, and North Brunswick Township High School’s Tatum Altman fight over a loose ball during the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Girls Lacrosse Tournament finals played May 11 at North Brunswick. Old Bridge upset the top-seeded Raiders, 15-14, to capture the GMC crown. STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER ERIC SUCAR Old Bridge High School’s girls lacrosse team was expected to play the role of guests of honor May 11 at North Brunswick Township High School in the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Tournament finals, as the Raiders went for a second straight conference crown.
With two goals in the game’s final 30 seconds, the Lady Knights stunned North Brunswick to win the GMC crown, 15-14. Samantha Potts netted the tying goal — her seventh of the game — with just 30 seconds remaining. After Old Bridge won the ensuing faceoff, Potts set up Allie Lopes for the gamewinner with just five seconds on the clock.
North Brunswick, which edged South Brunswick High School, 12-11, in the semifinals, took a 9-7 lead into the intermission, but coach Stephen Gajewski’s Lady Knights fought back. The game was tied at 13-13 when North Brunswick’s Samantha Mehalick scored her eighth goal of the match to put the Raiders ahead with about two minutes remaining. Potts and her teammates, however, would not be denied.
Potts ended the evening with seven goals — giving her 59 on the year — and two assists. The senior, who began the season nursing a muscle injury, was moved to attack this year by Gajewski after she scored 23 times as a midfielder in 2014. Shannon Flynn and Melanie Samurro both tallied hat tricks, and Lopes contributed two goals and two assists to the win.
“We were able to win faceoffs late in the game when we needed the ball,” said Gajewski, whose team scored 179 goals on the year. “Our girls are pretty confident they can score, and it showed.”
The loss was North Brunswick’s first this spring to a GMC team, and it dropped the Raiders, who had downed the Knights during the regular season, to 15-5. Old Bridge, which started the season with three straight losses and at one point was 2-5, now stands at 11-6 on the year. The Lady Knights, seeded 16th, are scheduled to meet undefeated and top-seeded Ridgewood High School (16-0) May 14 in the opening round of the NJSIAA North Group IV tournament. North Brunswick earned the ninth seed and will visit eighth-seeded Hillsborough High School (9-7).
Old Bridge won its semifinal game against Monroe Township High School, 10-8, after losing an early-season game to the Falcons, 12-2. Samurro scored three goals in the tournament game, as Lopes and Potts added two goals apiece and Lucy Tamke made 17 saves in net. Lopes is second on the team in scoring, with 26 goals and 30 assists.
In the quarterfinals, Old Bridge dominated South Plainfield High School, 17-3, with Potts scoring seven times and Lopes garnering two goals and five assists.
Earlier in the year, Gajewski said his team was just trying to find its identity and that he was confident it would right the ship. Old Bridge has certainly done that.
“The girls had confidence in themselves, and a lot of them were back from last year’s team (13-6),” the coach said. “They kept their focus, and the wins started to come.”