Quick Start Propels Madison Girls Lax To Win

A chilly, blustery day provided a good chance for the Madison girls lacrosse team to warm up.

With showdowns against two of the top three teams in Morris County over a 48-hour period looming later this week, Madison jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first six minutes and never looked back, defeating Pequannock, 17-8, in an NJAC-Freedom game at Madison High School Tuesday.

Evan Foulsham scored five goals for the Dodgers (6-4), who improved to 5-0 in NJAC games this season. Alli Helwig added four goals, including a pair of conversions on free-position shots. Chloe Cogavin scored four times for Pequannock (6-3, 1-3).

Playing a late-afternoon game with a 40-degree wind chill, the Dodgers were perhaps in no mood to mess around. They opened the game with exceptional focus, scoring on nearly every possession in the first six minutes. Considering Madison's next two opponents - Mendham and West Morris, the latter in Saturday's Morris County Tournament quarterfinal - Madison coach Carole Rawding said she hoped her team's early-game focus would be the start of a trend.

"We just finished watching the Chatham tape (from Madison's 17-14 loss last Thursday), and we saw how much intensity we could play with," Rawding said. "The hope is that we start a game with that intensity, and that we bring it to every game. We did it today."

Mendham is the top seed in this year's MCT, while West Morris is seeded third.

Tuesday, It took Foulsham 18 seconds to put Madison on the board. Two minutes later, Emily Rutland's perfect check of an attempted clearance by Pequannock goalie Justine Thimmel led to an easy putaway by Kathleen Matthews.

The Foulsham twins, Ali and Evan, both proved to be unstoppable on offense in the early going, beating the Pequannock defenders in one-on-one situations. Ali Foulsham's goal with 19:11 remaining in the first half made it 6-0, effectively burying the Golden Panthers.

"They both have such good moves to the cage," Rawding said. "They had confidence today to take those moves and get shots off of them."

Madison's defense was top-notch against the outgunned Golden Panthers. Pequannock didn't take its first shot on goal until the 9:10 mark, when Kelsey Dudgeon scored to put the visiting team on the board.

Every other Pequannock possession, it seemed, ended with a perfectly-timed check or an unforced error. It was an encouraging performance for Rawding, especially since she had to make do without senior defensive stalwarts Chelsea Davies and Lexi Greene, who sat out for health reasons but will be available Thursday against Mendham.

"We're definitely coming along," Rawding said. "We rotated in a bunch of new faces out there today to make up for (our missing players). They communicated well, they did a good job of slowing their runners. I was very pleased."

The Golden Panthers ended up with just five shots on goal, two of which were stopped by Shannon Sweeney. The Dodgers' net-minder ended up with seven saves on 15 shots.

Pequannock put forth a game effort in the second half, outshooting the Dodgers and executing a pair of long, patient offensive possessions which led to goals. Michelle Fallon and Colleen Quinn each scored on free position shots, the latter cutting Madison's lead to 12-5 with 12:59 to go.

But the Dodgers were never in any real danger. They controlled 10 of the 13 second-half draws, and reached a double-digit lead, 17-7, on Helwig's fourth goal with 4:22 to go.

NEXT UP
Madison will face likely its toughest opponent to date Thursday afternoon when they travel to Mendham for a 4 p.m. game.

The unbeaten Minutemen (11-0) are ranked No. 1 in New Jersey in the LaxPower.com computer rankings, and have won all but two of their games by double digits. Mendham picked up a 16-9 win over Chatham, the No. 5 team according to LaxPower, Tuesday afternoon.

Last season, the two teams met in the Morris County Tournament semifinals. Mendham, the top seed and eventual champion, rolled to a 16-2 win. Rawding said she doesn't believe her team will be intimidated, however.

"Our Chatham game (last week) was very good for us," Rawding said. "We know we can compete with the big boys. It's going to take our best game to beat them, and we know that. But we're going to let them know that we aren't going to give them anything for free."

BOX SCORE
Pequannock      3  5  -    8
Madison            10  7  -  17

GOALS
PEQ- Chloe Cogavin 4, Kelsey Dudgeon 2, Michelle Fallon 1, Colleen Quinn 1
MAD- Evan Foulsham 5, Alli Helwig 4, Ali Foulsham 2, Emily Rutland 2, Kathleen Matthews 2, Avery Koep 1, Amelia Murcott 1

ASSISTS
PEQ- Chelsea Kapotes 1
MAD- Emily Rutland 2, Kathleen Matthews 1, Evan Foulsham 1, Amelia Murcott 1

SHOTS ON GOAL
Pequannock    5  10  -  15
Madison          14   8   -  22

SAVES
PEQ- Justine Thimmel 5
MAD- Shannon Sweeney 7