Online exclusive: Madison wins fifth consecutive MCT title

BOONTON – What started out with all the ingredients of a rout was anything but.

Madison scored twice in the first 7:34 and had to hold off a determined Mendham squad to earn a 2-1 victory in the Morris County Tournament final.

The title is the fifth consecutive and 21st overall for second-seeded Madison (15-2 ). Mendham (14-2), the tournament’s first-seed was seeking its first title since 1985.

PHOTOS>>http://dailyre.co/1LLwIxP 

The Dodgers, who entered the game having outscored their opposition 24-1 in the tournament, struck 50 seconds into the game when Stephanie Dellavia tipped Catherine Crowley’s shot past Mendham’s freshman keeper Carsen Fessenden, who was making her varsity debut.

Abby Chopoorian scored on a rebound with 22:26 to play in the first half to provide Madison with a 2-0 advantage.

The Minutemen cut their deficit in half on a penalty corner 5:05 later when Tara Litjens received Ally Reardon’s insert pass at the top of the circle and rifled a shot for the score.

While Mendham pressed the rest of the game to score the equalizer, coach Lori Welles’ club also managed to hold Madison scoreless the rest of the way.

Mendham is great defensively and it was great competition to have- it was a great win for us- we had to come out strong against them and being able to maintain possession and that was a challenge- they really gave us a run for our money.

“For us to score early was great,” Dellavia, a senior said. “But they just kept coming back for more and we had to keep our defense as strong as we could from the first minute to the last. We had a lot of good chances, but not being able to score again was frustrating.  It was all a mental game and we had to keep our heads in it and keep going.

“When they scored, I think it just gave us a flashback to reality. But we just had to keep giving it 100% throughout the game and not let up for a second.”

Mendham had an opportunity to square the game when Sam DiMaio was awarded a penalty stroke with 24:44 left in the game. But the senior midfielder’s shot hit the left post.

“I was practicing that, and I was bummed when I missed,” DiMaio said. “You win some and you lose some.

“When they scored those early goals, it didn’t rattle us too much. If anything, it inspired us to play harder.  I think our mindset just was to keep playing. The game was so early at that point, there was no way we were backing down. We knew that and I think they knew that. We were going to come back strong  and we weren’t going to stop playing until that buzzer sounded. “