Murray's Goal Lifts Chatham Girls' Lacrosse To Dramatic County Tournament Semifinal Win

It was poetic justice that the ball was placed in Meghan Murray's stick with 1:20 to play in a tie game.

Murray, a senior, suffered a concussion when the Chatham girls' lacrosse team defeated Madison two weeks ago. On Saturday, with the feisty Dodgers threatening to pull the upset in the Morris County Tournament semifinals, she was awarded the ball after a stoppage of play near midfield, with only green turf and a goalie between Murray and the game-winning goal.

After the whistle blew to restart play, Murray sprinted unimpeded, stopped about six yards short of goal, fired high, and hit the back of the net. The goal with 1:15 to play in regulation lifted the Chatham to a wild 8-7 win over rival Madison in the county semifinals Saturday at Haas Field.

"It was great that it was Meghan," said Chatham coach Deb Marriott. "For her to come out against the team that gave her a concussion—and to make the winning play—shows what kind of player she is."

The second-seeded Cougars (14-3) ended their two-game losing streak in dramatic fashion, and they advance to play No. 1 and unbeaten Mendham for the county title Wednesday. Murray, Jaclyn Leto and Kathryn Maiorano all scored twice for Chatham, while Alli Helwig picked up a hat trick for the Dodgers.

Chatham never trailed, but a second-half surge by sixth-seeded Madison (10-7) made things very antsy for Marriott. The Cougars led, 6-2, with under 20 minutes to play before the Dodgers roared back with four straight goals to tie it up.

"Our girls played very hard, hung tough, they kept at it," Marriott said. "They showed a whole lot of determination, and we're all very glad to get through this game."

Leto put Chatham back ahead with 4:26 to play on an impossible goal. She ran into a double-team around the cage, and fell down trying to escape it. But while falling, Leto managed to get a shot off and beat Madison goalie Shannon Sweeney.

Chatham tried to end the game on the stall, but instead a shot was taken. Sweeney saved it, and the Dodgers took over with just under two minutes to play. Madison capitalized seconds later, when Ali Foulsham tied it up with 1:41 to go off of a perfect feed from Emily Rutland.

The Dodgers won the ensuing draw, but lost the ball in a scramble near midfield. A collision with 1:21 to go left a Madison player on the ground, and the referees stopped play. Crucially, when the whistle blew, the ball ended up with Murray, who stood on the edge of the Madison defense. The Dodgers couldn't get back in time, and Murray's goal put Chatham ahead for good.

Leto won a ground ball on the next draw, and Chatham succesfully wound down the clock without turning the ball over.

It was a markedly different affair from the last time these two teams met, a 17-14 shootout won by Chatham on April 22. The Cougars' strategy of tripling any Dodger attackers who came near the cage worked beautifully in the first half, with Madison managing just six shots on goal in the opening period.

Helping matters for the Cougars was goalie Hannah Reader, who stopped nine of the 16 shots she faced.

"I was very pleased with our defense," Marriott said. "We made a goalie change and it worked out great today. Hannah was awesome out there."

Five different Cougars scored in the first half, and Chatham led by four until Alli Helwig scored in transition. That cut Chatham's lead to 5-2, where it remained at halftime.

Madison lived on transition goals in the second half, with Chelsea Davies and Evan Foulsham scoring goals within 12 seconds of each other to cut Chatham's lead to 6-5.

The Dodgers controlled possession, winning draw after draw in the second half. Helwig tied it at 6-6 with a high shot from the left side with 7:40 to play.

"Once we started using the open girl and finding her, we did a lot better," said Madison coach Carole Rawding. "We were getting draws and taking open shots instead of holding on to the ball too long. They're an excellent defensive team and we needed to be better on attack."

Chatham advances to the county championship game later this week against Mendham, which knocked off No. 4 seed Mountain Lakes 14-9 in Saturday's other semifinal.

The game is a an opportunity for the Cougars to avenge their 16-9 loss to the Minutemen back on April 27.

"We'll hopefully be at full strength for that game with Meghan back," Marriott said.


BOX SCORE
Madison   2  5  -  7
Chatham  5  3  -  8

GOALS
MAD- Alli Helwig 3, Chelsea Davies 2, Evan Foulsham 1, Ali Foulsham 1
CHAT- Meghan Murray 2, Jaclyn Leto 2, Kathryn Maiorano 2, Emma Ehler 1, Brittany Marriott 1

ASSISTS
MAD- Ali Foulsham 3, Rachel Misko 1, Emily Rutland 1
CHAT- Jaclyn Leto 1, Emma Ehler 1, Brittany Marriott 1

SHOTS ON GOAL
Madison     6  10  -  16
Chatham  13    6  -  19

SAVES
MAD- Shannon Sweeney 11
CHAT- Hannah Reader 9