Tuesday,
April 15, 2014
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Hailey Bossolina and IHA climbed back over the .500 mark for the season by holding off Mahwah, 13-10, on Monday afternoon. |
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP – Although it plays one of the tougher schedules of any team in New Jersey, the Immaculate Heart Academy girls lacrosse team did not expect its record to be even through eight games. But that was the reality as the Blue Eagles headed into Monday's showdown with Mahwah, which has gotten off to a red-hot start this season.
With the Bergen County Tournament seeding meeting around the corner, a win for either team would give them a legitimate case to earn the No. 2 seed behind perennial power defending champion Ridgewood. With both teams looking to make a statement, whichever team could convert turnovers into goals consistently would not only have a decided advantage in earning a win but also get some momentum heading into the meat of their team's schedule.
Mahwah chipped away at IHA's lead several times and looked like it could wrest the momentum away from the Blue Eagles, but every time a big play needed to be made, it was IHA that made it. A turnover late in the first half led to a goal by Christine Weber with 10 seconds remaining. Then, with IHA up three, Samantha Marmo picked off a clearing attempt and scored to ice the game as IHA climbed back over the .500 mark with a 13-10 triumph over the Lady Thunderbirds at Immaculate Heart Academy in Washington Township.
“We know that every time we step on the field that we have something to prove,” said IHA's Maggie Zied. “We want to win all of our games. We haven't gotten off to the start we wanted. But we're going to keep playing as hard as we can. I thought our defense played great today and they definitely got our offense going by forcing turnovers. We've been working hard on our system, staying composed, and playing with confidence. All of that showed today because every time they fought back, we answered with a goal to stop their momentum.”
Brianna Spencer opened the scoring just 1:10 into the game to give Mahwah its only lead. The Blue Eagles responded with a goal from Marmo to tie the game and spark a run of four goals in a 4:50 span to make it 4-1.
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Brianna Spencer scored twice for Mahwah, which suffered just its second loss of the season. |
Taylor Herrmann scored to slice the lead to 4-3 before the Blue Eagles created some distance on the scoreboard again by netting five of the game's next six goals, two of them from Zied, for a 9-4 advantage. To that point in the game, the Blue Eagles remarkably scored on all nine shots they attempted.
Mahwah fought back the entire game largely on the back of Herrmann. She made a pair of scintillating long runs before scoring on each of them to cut it to 9-6. The T-Birds had a chance to hold for the last shot of the half but coughed up the ball and the Blue Eagles made them pay. Marmo and Josephine Zinn carried the ball all the way up the field before finding Weber on the left post, who scored with 10 seconds left to give IHA a little extra boost going into halftime with a 10-6 lead.
“Every time we had a chance to get over the hump and either tie the game or really get back in it, they made a big play and turned it into a goal; you have to play a clean game against a team like IHA,” said Mahwah head coach Brian Girardi. “It's so hard to play from behind because it's so tough to get defensive stops against a quality opponent. We were playing from behind the entire game so we played a little hurried and not in the rhythm in which we usually play. When you fight all the way back and then turn the ball over with it leading to a transition goal, it's tough to bounce back from. We had a few of those moments in both halves and we couldn't overcome it.”
Spencer and Herrmann scored in the first three minutes of the second half to cut the lead to two, 10-8, but Mahwah never got any closer. The lead was three when Mahwah goaltender Olivia Bagatelle (five saves) made a great stick save on a shot from point-blank range. But when she tried a long outlet pass up the middle of the field, Marmo read it and picked it off cleanly before splitting two defenders and scoring to make it 12-8 with 5:22 to play.
Marmo led the way for IHA (5-4) with four goals and an assist. Zied scored all three of her goals in the first half. Gabriella Vinci and Zinn each had two goals, while Hailey Bossolina, Annie Quinn, and Weber each added a goal and an assist. In between the pipes, Kenna Scannell had four saves and Catherine Healey had two.
Herrmann led all players with five goals for Mahwah (6-2). Spencer tallied twice with Kelly Pushie, Erin Jaffe, and Caelie Batelli each finding the back of the net once.
Now having snapped a two-game losing skid, the Blue Eagles feel like they are back on the right track and just in time. They face three teams ranked in the top 10 in the state over the next nine days. They get Chatham on Wednesday and West Morris Mendham on Monday before a huge showdown against Ridgewood next Wednesday in a rematch of last year's Bergen County final won by Ridgewood, 13-10.
“It's an awesome opportunity to play a good Bergen County team, because we usually don't get to see many of them until the county tournament,” said Marmo. “We want to prove to everyone that we deserve the second seed in the county tournament. Ridgewood is a great team. They are always our number one rival and we're very excited at a chance to play them. When next week comes and then counties come, we feel like we'll be ready and determined to play our best game of the year against them.”
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