Though Summit scored first and led for the first 10 minutes, 's girls lacrosse team soon took the lead on their home turf at Thursday and never relinquished it again.
IN SHORT
Under threatening skies that eventually opened up and with frequent rumbles of thunder that brought a 30-minute delay in the second half, the two teams hit the field sure to leave it all on the turf.
Find out what's happening in Chathamfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Seniors Kelsey Perselay and Jaclyn Leto led the Chatham Cougars with near perfect game for their last game at Haas Field. Perselay dominated on the faceoffs and was a terror for the Summit defense scoring six goals on six shots to lead all scorers. Leto added four goals, including her 100th of the season, and four assists.
"It was a really great game," Leto said. "As seniors, knowing this would be our last time playing on Haas, and as a team, knowing it was the last time this 11 and our subs would play together on this field, everyone just came out strong. It always felt like it was 3-3 despite the score. They are a great team, but we had a lot of heart today."
Find out what's happening in Chathamfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The Cougars perfectly executed their game plan. "The first half there was a little bit of a slow start. We just had to get possession and once we started getting it, we got our momentum going and they just kept going from there," said Chatham coach Deb Marriott.
COUGAR OF THE GAME
Kelsey Perselay—Perselay was the dominate force on the field from her success on faceoffs to her scoring.
KEY PERFORMANCES
Jaclyn Leto—Leto's 4-goal performance put her season total at 102 for an incredible 265 career goals, a Chatham High School record.
Kallan Murray—Murray had two goals for the game, bringing her career number to 100.
THEY SAID IT
"I think everyone played really well. We knew they were a good team, but we were ready for them and we are just ready for the next steps to come." -Hannah Reader
"On defense we held them to two goals in the second half. That's amazing. And only five goals in the first half to a team that is 10th in the state. That's awesome.
"On attack, our shots were just coming through. We knew how to attack the goalie. We were working on our shots all day yesterday knowing we would have to sink them in order to come out as strong as we could. We took our confidence from the county final and drove it into states. But we can't just sit back and relax, we want the triple crown. It has been out goal since I was a freshman and probably before that. This means the world to us." -Kelsey Perselay
"Summit is a really good team and we knew going into it, this was going to be the hardest game of the entire season, and the most critical game of the season. We also knew at this point in the tournament, it is not only about skill and talent on the field, it is all about heart and who wanted it more. I know our team really wants it and we have our hearts set on what we want and we plan to get there." - Kallan Murray
UP NEXT - Chatham will face Red Bank Catholic Thursday at Hunterdon Central for the NJSIAA Group 2 State Title.
Let Patch save you time. Get local stories like this delivered right to your inbox or smartphone each day with our free newsletter. Simple, fast, sign-up here.
