Montclair vs Lenape in Group IV Lax Championship
Westfield, NJ – Lenape (17-5), who came out strong taking a five point lead during the first 17 minutes, walked away with an 11-7 victory over favored Montclair (13-9). Tim McDonald was there to photograph the action while you enjoy the event.
Click here to view a picture gallery of close to 200 images from the NJSIAA Group 4 Girls High School Championship Lacrosse game.
Photos by Tim McDonald
Montclair Shines Bright At End
Of Essex Girls Lacrosse Season
By Steve Tober
For sidelinechatter.com
It is indeed rare when an Essex County girls’ lacrosse team other than West Essex is left standing at the furthest point of the season, but that was exactly the case for Montclair’s 2007 North Jersey, Group 4 state sectional championship team, which finally saw its dream post-season run come to an end with Friday’s 11-7 loss to then No. 15 th-ranked Lenape in the Group 4 championship game at Westfield.
Head Coach Ann Jennings’ Mountiers (13-9) were ranked 17 th in the state when they knocked off No. 7-ranked Bridgewater-Raritan, 9-8, last Tuesday, May 29, in the North Jersey, Group 4 final in Bridgewater.
Before that, Montclair upset Hillsborough, 7-6, in the sectional semifinals.
The Mounties, who lost to West Essex, 7-4, in the Essex County Tournament final, showed a competitive spirit throughout the campaign fostered by its fine, veteran coach, who helped build winning programs at both her alma mater and at Montclair Kimberley Academy where she coached for four seasons before arriving back at Montclair in 2004.
Meanwhile, No. 9 ranked West Essex (14-3) saw its season end with a 14-6 loss to No. 3 Mendham in the North Jersey, Group 2 final on May 31. Coach Jill Cosse’s Lady Knights, a fixture on the statewide scene for years, had a talented team led by the likes of junior captain Cat Serpe and sparkling sophomore Ali Cassera.
Montclair, which has fine talent in players such as sophomore goalie Lavinia Kronberg and veteran presence in people such as Sara Keating, battled back against Lenape in the Group 4 final after watching the South Jersey school score five quick goals over the game’s first 17 minutes to take a commanding lead in the contest.
“Lenape came out at us very hard and rattled us in the beginning,” said Jennings. “Once we were able to start controlling the draws and set up our offense we played them the way we were supposed to.
“We came on too late. If we had started the way we ended, we would have been O.K.”
Lenape (17-5) built a 6-1 first-half lead while winning six of the first seven draws. Montclair rallied to close the deficit to 6-3 at the half with goals from Keating and junior Kayla Ellman (four goals on the day).
The Mounties battled back in the second half to make things interesting. Junior Jacquie Pierri put in a rebound of her own shot at 21:23 and Ellman picked up a loose ball and fired it home to bring Montclair to within 7-5.
Lenape responded with three straight goals to take back control of the contest and the Mounties tallied two goals in the final minutes, one by sophomore Catherine Williams and the other by Ellman.
“It was the greatest girls’ lacrosse season in school history,” said Jennings. “We had a great group of girls and we’ll have a lot of them returning next year.
“They worked well together and the are friends on and off the field.”
