Photos: A Senior Day Rout for Chatham Girls' Lacrosse

The Lady Cougars sharpened their teeth on senior day in an effort to bone up for county finals and the state tournament.

Chatham turned in a 15-1 mauling of Sparta on Monday, just two days before the Morris County championship against Mendham.

"This was our last regular season [game], so it was kind of emotional but we're looking to do well in states," said Chatham senior Meghan Murray. "Wednesday we [play in] the county finals and we're playing Mendham and they're our arch rivals ... it's going to be a huge game and we're really excited. [A win] would mean so much."

The home team wasted no time in getting on the board, as Chatham was up 3-0 just 35 seconds in. The Lady Cougars won the opening faceoff and took the ball down the field, where Emma Ehler hit Gillian Murphy with a pass that Murphy bounced passed the goalie and into the net with just 14 seconds elapsed. Another win on the ensuing faceoff led to a fast-break goal from Courtney Landolfe, and Murray followed suit with a goal 12 ticks later.

"It was senior day—they got out there and they just did what they knew how to do," said Chatham coach Deb Marriott.

About two minutes later, Liz Hyde hit a cutting Ehler in front of the goal and it was 4-0. Chatham was so dominant early on that it took the Spartans over four minutes just to get the ball over Chatham's restraining line.

Murphy assisted on Mary Kate O'Neill's goal 4 1/2 minutes after Ehler's score and O'Neill paid it forward with an assist on Kathryn Maiorano's tally to make it a six-goal affair. Then, off a free possession, Murray hit Chelsea Triano for a goal to make it 7-0 just past the midway point of the first half.

"This was only my second game back—I was out with a concussion for two weeks," said Murray, who scored the game winner in Saturday's county semifinal against Madison. "My last game I didn't do so well, so I was actually really happy with the simple things like passing, catching, doging and creating opportunities."

Paige McKenna, Ehler and Liz Hyde each added a goal during the remaining 12:11 of the first half. However, it could have been much worse than 10-0 at the break.

"We didn't want to keep scoring, we didn't feel that that was very sportsmanlike," Marriott said. "We slowed our offense down and just kind of ran some plays that ended with a fake and not a shot."

Forty-one seconds into the second half the Spartans did something they failed to do throughout the first half—take a shot on goal. In fact, Christie Taylor's shot found the twine and closed it to 10-1 for the visitors. Chatham, though, bounced right back 16 seconds later as Kelsey Fritts scored to amp Chatham's lead back up to 10 goals.

"Stay focused, stay on it, keep working the ball, keep moving the ball and just keep taking it forward this half," Marriott said to her team at the half.

Megan Helmig, Hillary Allen, Fritts and O'Neill each scored a goal apiece down the stretch to account for the final margin.

The easy win capped a festive day for Chatham girls' lacrosse. In a ceremony before the game, each of the team's nine seniors—and two statistics keepers—received a rose and was honored for their time with the team. (Photos are at right.)

"It definitely makes it more special ... we started and played the game mostly with all seniors," Murray said. "Plus, the majority of the seniors were able to get goals."

Triano, Ehler, Maiorano, Murray, Murphy, Allen, McKenna and Landolfe were all seniors who scored.