There was a moment in the second half of Monday's North 2 Group IV Girls Lacrosse Tournament game between Columbia and Vernon when the Cougars' sophomore goalie Samantha Storch may well have secured the victory for her team.
With second-seed Columbia protecting a 5-3 lead, Vernon's speedy sophomore Brittany Ast broke in one-on-one on the Cougar goalie. Storch, who made 13 saves on the day, stopped Ast's shot with 14 minutes left and gave the Cougars a boost of momentum that fueled a 9-3 win on senior day.
Not long after Storch's stop, at 11:30 junior Brooke Norman scored unassisted to make it 6-3 and give the home team a bit of breathing room. The Cougars (10-7) will play host to No. 3 seed Hillsborough (11-6) Thursday. Last year, Columbia was the No. 3 seed, and lost at No. 2 Hillsborough.
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"We've scouted them,'' Columbia coach Marguerite Dempsey said.
Norman had three goals and sophomore Melissa Carelli added two to power the Cougars. The Cougars also eliminated No. 7 seed Vernon last year.
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"Sam kept us in the game,'' said Dempsey.
Norman opened the scoring at 23:26 of the first half before sophomore Maggie Richardson beat Vernon goalie Nadia Womble. Sophomore Maggie Richardson made it 2-0 at 19:53 off an assist from junior Ginerva Czech. Vernon answered on sophomore Leslier Werner's goal at 18:37. Carelli and Norman scored—Norman off a free position shot to make it 4-1 before Ast scored at 10:56.
The Cougars extended the lead to 5-2 at 4:18 on Carelli's second from Norman. But Werner scored with 45 seconds before intermission to pull the Sussex County school to within 5-3.
"We can't have the silly turnover—turnovers happen, but you really have to keep focus and make sure they don't happen, especially in your defensive zone,'' said Dempsey. "I really think that if we keep possession of the ball we can play with anybody. We have to make sure we have shots we really want.''
Dempsey said the team didn't properly shadow Ast.
"In the first half we weren't smart, but we pressured (Ast) in the second half,'' Dempsey said. "You have to make a player think.''
Michela Galante scored twice in the second half at 9:12 and with 18 seconds left, and Ginerva Czech scored at 2:23 for Columbia. Czech and Emma Daugherty had assists.
