GL Takes Game Back From Lady Cougars

Call it the game that got away. That's what the Cranford girls' varsity lacrosse team was saying after their tough 13-11 overtime loss to Governor Livingston Monday at Memorial Field in Cranford.

The Lady Cougars held a 6-2 lead before the Highlanders battled back to take the lead. From that point on in the second half, both teams exchanged leads a handful of times before the final horn blew.

"We came out wanting it, we came out really hard," said first-year Cranford coach Lauren Leddy. "For a few minutes we let up, and that's when they closed the gap. I just told them that we have to play 50 minutes hard. We have to play 50 minutes the way we played the first 10. It's disappointing. They worked really hard."

"We really had no problems, we had that lead and so we thought we had it," said senior Mai-Lin Choy-Shan, who had four goals and three assists. "We had heart throughout the game, but we always have room for improvement. All the penalty shots they were taking, we could have definitely denied those."

"We weren't winning draw controls," said Leddy. "There were just a few little things. I said whoever wins draw controls sets the pace. As soon as they started to, that's when they closed the gap."

Cranford was trailing with time running out in regulation, but they were able to tie the game and send it into overtime where they played a pair of three minute periods. Governor Livingston scored once in each overtime to nail down the decision, dropping the Lady Cougars to 2-2 on the season.

"We're pretty solid on the attacking end," said Leddy. "I'm worried about Nikki getting marked up, getting face-guarded, so I tell the girls some attackers need to start stepping it up. We need to spread the goals out a little bit. The defensive end looks pretty solid as well."

The Cranford Patch girls' Athlete of the Week Nikki Kleiman tallied another seven goals to add to the nine she had versus Union Catholic last week. And watch out for newcomer Morgan Mason, who also had a goal and is catching the coaches' attention.

"She's pretty feisty down there on attack," said Leddy. "She's only a freshman and she's playing like she's a senior. Hopefully she keeps it up."

While the team might be a tad disappointed, they know there's a bright road ahead.

"We just have amazing coaches now," said Choy-Shan. "We have so much confidence in them and they have even more confidence in us. They're amazing people and they're just making us feel so good about ourselves out on the field and even in practice. It's going to be a very good year."

Cranford will next face Villa Walsh in a non-conference road matchup Tuesday afternoon, before taking on Pequannock on Friday at home at 4:30.