SOCCER

West Morris, Roxbury to meet in MCT girls soccer final

Dan Canova
@DanCanova

The stage is set for the lights to shine their brightest on Saturday night at Roxbury when No. 1 West Morris meets the defending co-champion Gaels in the Morris County Tournament girls soccer final.

It will be the third meeting of the season between the two teams. The Wolfpack won the previous two games, each 1-0.

Roxbury (8-5-2) has had its struggles on the offensive side of the ball, while West Morris has allowed only three goals in 15 matches. A lot of that has to do with the experience of the Wolfpack's defense — seniors Emily Driscoll and Julia Trachtenberg, junior Alison Cunniffe and freshman Leanne Engemann — and goalkeeper Ilissa Webb.

The Gaels will rely heavily on sophomore forward Ashleigh Sarafin, who leads the team with nine goals.  Sarafin scored both goals in Roxbury’s 2-0 semifinal win over Kinnelon.

”We’re not changing too much,” Gaels coach Justin Renna said.  “We played them pretty well in the past, and we’re just going to hope we are a little more effective in front of the goal.  Our forwards need to create more opportunities through the course of the game, and we need to put better shots on net.”

Freshman Emily Leyson leads West Morris (14-0-1) with 10 goals. Sophomore Casey Lisa has seven. Junior Cassandra Montgomery has six goals, while juniors Kate Willsey and Sophia Pescatore have each scored five.

“We’re just going to go into the game like it’s a new opponent,” West Morris head coach Ken Rossi said.  “We are going to establish a game plan and try to execute it.  We need to defend well.  Our back line needs to step up and try to control their offense, and we need someone to step up and knock one home to get that go-ahead goal.”

Last year’s MCT final ended in a 1-1 draw between Roxbury and Randolph, and both schools were named co-champions.  This year, for the first time in tournament history, if the schools are tied after regulation and two overtime periods, the game will end with penalty kicks.

West Morris was the No. 2 seed a year ago but was upset in the first round by No. 15 Kinnelon.

“I’ve been on the losing side of PKs, and I’ve been on the winning side of PKs,” Rossi said.  “The year we shared the title with Randolph in 2013, and the year we shared it with Kinnelon, looking back. those were fond memories.  It would have been heartbreaking for one of those two teams to lose on penalty kicks.”

Staff Writer Dan Canova: (862) 240-2878;dcanova@gannettnj.com

Morris County Top 10

1. West Morris (14-0-1)

2. Morris Catholic (13-2-1)

3. Roxbury (8-5-2)

4. Kinnelon (11-6-1)

5. Randolph (8-5-2)

6. Hanover Park (10-6-1)

7. Villa Walsh (12-5-1)

8. Morristown-Beard 11-3)

9. Morris Hills (9-5-2)

10. Mendham (9-4-1)

All records and statistics through Wednesday