Second Half Surge, First-Class Victory for Chatham Girls' Lacrosse

The top-seeded Chatham girls' lacrosse team snapped the second-seeded Summit Hilltoppers' 14-game winning streak with an 8-5 victory in the North Group II sectional finals on Monday at Haas Field to advance to the state group finals.

"Good," said Chatham head coach Deb Marriott. "It feels really good. It's exciting. The girls have been working hard. They've really come together in the last couple of weeks and they're just really playing well together as a team and as a whole unit."

The Lady Cougars (20-3), who defeated the Hilltoppers 13-6 on April 10 and are riding a seven-game winning streak, wasted no time in getting on the board, as they won the opening faceoff and brought the ball into Summit's (16-4) zone. Just over a minute into the game Jaclyn Leto scored off a free possession to give the home team the early edge.

About two minutes later, though, the Hilltoppers responded with the equalizer.

"Summit was definitely our toughest competition," said Chatham defenseman Paige McKenna.

When Summit won the ensuing faceoff it appeared as though the visitors were poised to take the lead. However, Callie Farmakis stole the ball around midfield and worked it into the Hilltoppers' zone, where Cat McCutcheon threw a low bouncer that found the back of the net.

Kelsey Perselay and Leto recorded goals off of free possessions later in the first half to give Chatham a 4-1 advantage at the break.

As listless as Summit looked in the first, it more than made up for it in the beginning of the second stanza. The Hilltoppers held possession for the first eight minutes and eventually tied up the game with 18:13 showing on the clock.

Marriott encouraged her team to "get back on it" during a subsequent timeout.

"Our offense was not really maintaining its composure when they were pressuring them. We weren't doing some things defensively that we needed to do," she said. "We had to send our second slide quicker and we also had to work up on their sticks better. I just told them, 'You guys have to get right on it,' and that's what they did."

Shortly after, Courtney Landolfe, who finished with three goals and an assist, scored off a free possession to give the Lady Cougars a 5-4 lead they would not relinquish.

"I just got a push," said Landolfe. "I was nervous to take that. Luckily it went in."

Twenty-six seconds later, Landolfe added another score, and with about 10 1/2 minutes left her wrap-around tally made it 7-4.

"I think we stayed composed," said Landolfe. "Even when they scored a goal we would get together and get right back on it. We didn't let down at all on defense—our goalie [Hannah Reader] came up with some great saves."

With 90 seconds left in regulation, Landolfe hit Kathryn Maiorano, stationed in front of the goal, with a pass. A quick stick later, it was a four-goal affair.

Summit netted a goal in the waning seconds to account for the final margin.

"It feels so great because we've been working so hard," said Landolfe. "We wanted it so badly. One of our team goals was making it to sectionals. To win it is awesome."

Chatham will play South II champion Rumson-Fair Haven on May 27 at 5 p.m. at Ridge High School in the first round of the State Group Finals. The Cougars defeated Rumson-Fair Haven, 22-13, in their season opener.