More Close Calls for the Girls' LAX Team

They know the victories are not far behind, because they've been pushing almost every team to the brink.

It happened against Governor Livingston in a 13-11 overtime loss, and then on Thursday, when they made a second half comeback worthy of attention against Villa Walsh, only to lose 13-9.

Nicole Kleimann tallied four goals, while Mai-Lin Choy-Shan added two and Dina Mansour, Morgan Mason and Alexandra Delayo added one goal each.

"We were down by six at halftime, they could have given up, but they didn't, they fought back," said Cranford head coach Lauren Leddy. "I'm definitely very proud of them. This is the third game in a row that we really could have won. We just can't play a solid fifty minutes. We let down for a couple of minutes, and that's when teams take the lead."

"The first half we were kind of slow, the second half we kind of pushed it," said Jacqueline Monteagudo, one of the teams' talented defenders. "If we played like that the whole game we would have had it, because they barely scored in the second half."

Turn the page to Friday, and another heartbreaker as Pequannock took a 14-13 decision versus the Lady Cougars. Mai-Lin Choy-Shan finished with five goals and two assists while Alanna Conte made 13 saves in goal for Cranford.

"These girls definitely know," said Leddy. "As much as I try and tell them, they know that they're the ones out on field, they're the ones losing, and so it's tough on them. Hopefully, they've learned their lesson, and from here on out we'll play a full game."

The coaches are confident that everything will fall into place if patience prevails.

"I was telling our assistant Laura Cataldi, their basic stick skills have completely improved from the first couple of days that we were out here," Leddy said. "Fundamentally, we're getting there. It's just putting it all together. We have to be smart with ball in attack. When to take those shots, when not to, it's those little things. But that also comes with game experience. We do have some juniors who have never played varsity before, and a freshman out here, so I think as the season goes on, we'll get a little smarter with ball, and hopefully we'll pull some wins out."

"I see a lot of improvement and everyone's really working hard together," said Monteagudo. "It's a new beginning for everyone."

Monteagudo has become a strong defender for the new-look Lady Cougars.

"I love defense, and everyone on this defense works together and cooperates, so it works out well. When we put it together, usually we have a good outcome. Our team loves each other, we're always together, we're always happy together. There are no problems in any other way."

The team will be back in action on Tuesday at Westfield and Wednesday when they travel to Newark Academy.

"I have seen a lot of improvement," said Leddy. "So hopefully we can pull off some wins."

"It makes me feel good and I tell myself that I have to work my hardest every second," said Monteagudo. "It's going well."