Siverson leads Morristown girls lacrosse to sectional crown

MORRISTOWN – With a little more than 11 minutes remaining in the NJSIAA North Group III girls lacrosse final Wednesday afternoon, Morristown senior attack Meghan Siverson took a funny step on top of the ball and went over on her right ankle.

Immediately, there was a hush over the entire stadium as Siverson hopped around, trying her best to stay in the game.

“I rolled it a little,” said Siverson, who had scored five goals in the game prior to that point, giving her 66 for the season. “I knew I didn’t want to come out. I waited four years for this moment. I wasn’t going to miss it. I wasn’t going to let it happen.”

Still, Siverson did limp noticeably to the sidelines. The Colonials held a tenuous 13-9 lead at that point, with opponent Hopewell Valley applying the pressure.

The lead dropped to just two goals with four minutes left. That’s when Siverson decided to take matters into her own hands.

Siveron scored the final two goals of the game, one with 1:35 left and the other just as time expired, giving Morristown a 15-11 victory and the program’s first-ever sectional title.

“I knew that anytime I saw my shot, I had to take it,” Siverson said. “It was really big to score those goals. After I scored the first one, I knew that we had a big enough lead to hold on. The last one was just great, being able to come back and do that.”

The Colonials (17-7) will now face Moorestown in a Group III semifinal Saturday at 10 a.m. at Kean University.

“I have faith in all my seniors that if they’re ready to go, then they go,” Morristown head coach Evan Mager said. “I knew she would be fine. It was only fitting she got the last one. We’ve overcome so much all season that we really don’t rely on one person.”

Things didn’t look good for the Colonials from the outset, as Hopewell Valley (15-8) jumped out to a 2-0 lead a little more than 90 seconds into the match.

Paige Ackerman scored on a free shot at the 1:29 mark and just 12 seconds later, Aiden Cage ran the length of the field with the ball and her goal gave the Bulldogs the early two-goal advantage.

But the Colonials were undaunted and unfazed, scoring the next four goals.

Siverson got the Colonials going with a vicious one-hopper that went in and lifted Morristown’s spirits. Senior Casey O’Brien scored just two minutes later, collecting the 100th point of her season. O’Brien then scored again with a pretty over-the-shoulder shot and Siverson ended the run with her second goal, making the score 4-2 with 10 minutes left in the half.

“This means everything to us,” said O’Brien, who finished with five goals. “Last year, we got to this point (sectional final) and lost. So we knew we had to give it our all to win this one here. It was definitely a little scary when Meghan got hurt, but we just hung together as a team. This feels amazing. I’ve spent four years in the program and we’re finally going out on top.”

The two teams then traded goals for most of the half, until the Colonials broke a 6-6 tie by scoring four straight to close out the first half.

Annika Beagley broke the deadlock with an unassisted goal with 3:47 left. Allie Ferrara made it 8-6 off a fine feed from Callie Sundin with 2:55 remaining. Siverson scored her fourth goal of the half on a goal off a 50-yard run to the goal and closed the scoring with just 18 seconds left before intermission, giving the Colonials a 10-6 halftime lead.

O’Brien scored her fourth goal of the game in the opening stages of the second half, off a great feed from Beagley, pushing the lead to 11-6. Maddy Heher scored off a feed from O’Brien and the Colonials were up 12-6 with 17:22 left.

Less than a 30 seconds later later, with Morristown holding a commanding six-goal lead, lightning was spotted, then the skies opened. After a 58-minute delay, the game resumed.

“We didn’t want to lose momentum from it, but we also knew that they were going to give it a fight,” Mager said. "I don’t think any of them wanted to end this with a loss here. It’s really amazing. Five years ago, we were under .500 and now we’re state sectional champs. They just kept getting better and better.”