Quakers Win Group 3 Title in 4 OTs

Playing without any margin of error, Stephanie Toy and Nikki McMonagle made sure they ran the biggest play of the Moorestown girls' lacrosse season to perfection.

Stationed behind the goal, McMonagle flipped the ball to Toy, who was out front and to the left. Toy caught the pass and let off a quick shot that went to the back of the net and gave Moorestown a 14-13 win in sudden death overtime over West Morris-Mendham  in the Group 3 final.

"It's a play we do," McMonagle noted of the goal with 2:07 to play in the second sudden death period at Robbinsville High School Thursday. "Stephanie always gets that off-angle shot. It worked perfectly when we really needed it."

In addition to winning the Group 3 title, the goal also advances Moorestown into the Tournament of Champions. Moorestown, now two wins away from a state championship, will play Chatham at Monmouth University June 7.

"Hopefully, this win will propel us forward in the rest of the tournament," Moorestown goalie Bridget Bianco said.

Bianco certainly did her part. She had 12 saves in goal, saving her best play for overtime. Through two three-minute overtime periods and then a pair of three-minute sudden death periods, she was flawless in goal.

"I wasn't thinking about how allowing one goal would end our season," Bianco said. "That never crossed my mind. I'm just watching every shot and concentrating on making the save. I got my confidence level boosted going into overtime. No one was going to score against me.

"The defense in front of me was phenomenal in overtime. They made sure no one got by them."

While the Moorestown players were confident they could perform in the clutch, not many of them could have even considered overtime as a possibility after the first 18  minutes of the game.

Toy scored two goals. Nikki Shapiro, McMonagle, Carly Taglienti and Marie McCool also scored goals as Moorestown built a 7-0 lead less than 18 minutes into the game.

By halftime, the score was 7-4. Mendham tied the score at 9-9 with 11:57 to play in regulation. Then, twice in the final 3:16 of regulation, Mendham took the lead.

"They fought back, but so did we," McMonagle said. "We came out on top. That's what matters."

Shapiro tied the game at 12-12 with 2:14 left in regulation. Haleigh Dalmass tied the game at 13-13 with 50 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime. Toy assisted on both goals.

"I have never played in a game like that before in my life," Toy said.

Thanks to the final play by Toy and McMonagle, all of the Moorestown players will get to remember this thriller as a state title winner.

"That game was the most intense thing I have ever been involved with in my life," McMonagle said. "Everyone was on edge. It was just an awesome feeling to get it done at the end."