Girls' Lacrosse Outlasts Kinnelon in County Quarterfinals

With about eight minutes left of Chatham girls' lacrosse game against seventh-seeded Kinnelon in the Morris County Tournament quarterfinals Saturday, both teams went to the sideline for a timeout. The score was tied 9-9, and the Cougars status as the tournament's second-seeded team remained in doubt.

But on the ensuing faceoff, the Cougars did something that had been working for the in the latter part of the second half. Kelsey Perselay won the draw, and Courtney Landolfe eventually brought the ball down the field. Kathryn Maiorano then cut toward the goal, raising her stick in anticipation of a pass.

Landolfe arced the ball over Kinnelon defenders, right to Maiorano. Maiorano then cleanly put the ball in the net past Kinnelon goalie Maya Stawnychy, who made 19 saves in the game, and Chatham had a lead it would not relinquish. Maiorano would score the team's final two goals and the Cougars won, 12-10, to advance to the county semifinals.

Maiorano was modest after the game about her ability to score right in front of the goal.

"I was just cutting [toward the net]," she said. "My teammates noticing it was just as important as me cutting."

Head Coach Deb Marriott credited the senior captain with, in part, elevating the team, which found itself behind 7-6 at the beginning of the second half after Kinnelon dominated the half's first few minutes and took the lead.

Chatham had been ahead 6-5 at halftime.

"Kathryn really stepped it up today," she said. "She has been, the last two games, just seeing the net."

The Cougars took a 5-2 lead early on two goals by Cat McCutcheon and one each by Emma Ehler, Jaclyn Leto and Perselay, but Kinnelon came right back, scoring twice in a row to cut the deficit to 5-4. Carly Eskenazi led Kinnelon throughout the game, scoring three of the team's first four goals and a total of six by the end of the matchup.

Chatham also hit several posts in the first half.

"I thought I played probably my best game so far," Eskenazi said.

It was enough to give Kinnelon its post-halftime lead, and Stawnychy made save after save in the second half, though Marriott said the Cougars "made her look good."

But Maiorano's effort—she scored five of the team's six second half goals—was enough to give Chatham the cushion it needed. The Cougars killed the clock at the end of the game and advanced.

"We wanted to try and win the draws," said Eskenazi. "I guess we didn't the last few times."

Marriott said she hopes her team can play in a somewhat more stable manner in future games.

"What I wish I'd get out of this team is consistency," she said. "I think we went into this taking it too lightly."

The team has some tough matchups next week. It will face Ridgewood on Tuesday and will head to South Jersey to play Shawnee on Thursday before playing another county tournament game on Saturday.

"We just have to stay focused," Maiorano said. "That's our main thing."