Morristown advances to sectional semifinals

MORRISTOWN – The Morristown girls lacrosse team took one step closer to a state title on Monday.

The third-seeded Colonials (15-7) defeated sixth-seeded Mount Olive 17-2 to advance to the North Group III semifinals.

“We knew that they’re definitely a good team, they’re ranked sixth and we were three so we were pretty close ranking wise,” Morristown senior midfielder Casey O’Brien said. “We just had to play a full 50 minutes in order to win, which I think we did today.”

Senior attack Maddy Heher put the Colonials on the board one minute into the contest when she scored on a rebound off a shot by senior midfielder Meghan Siverson for a 1-0 lead. Less than two minutes later senior midfielder Claire Callaghan scored for the Marauders (13-4) to tie the game 1-1.

From there the Morristown offense caught fire and the Colonials scored eight unanswered goals to take a 9-1 lead with 8:36 left in the first half.

“I think offensively right off the transition was coming down from the draw, our movement was great and we just saw each other and were able to connect and just go straight to goal,” Heher said. “I think in the second half we slowed it down and we were just able to relax offensively and our defense came up with such great stops too that all-around our offense was feeling great and we were just ready to go.”

With 3:58 to play junior midfielder Sarah McEvoy scored for Mount Olive, but O’Brien and Heher connected for a goal at the buzzer and Morristown led 10-2 at halftime.

The Colonials’ defense clamped down on the Marauders in the second half, allowing only three shots while scoring another seven goals for the 17-2 final.

Monday was the first time this season that Morristown held an opponent to only two goals. Mahwah scored three goals against the Colonials on April 22. For the Marauders, it was one of their lowest scoring totals of the season.

“I feel my defense did great, everyone had their jobs, we knew what to prepare for, we knew they were a good team and everyone knew what they had to do and played all the way through,” said sophomore goalie Amelia Drake, who made seven saves. “Everybody was on it, everybody was playing a full game and the offense was doing great so we all felt good about it.”

With the victory Morristown advances to the North Group III semifinals and will face second-seeded Mendham on Thursday. The Minutemen ended the Colonials’ season last year in the sectional final with a 15-1 victory.

“Redemption definitely,” O’Brien said when asked what Morristown expects. “That team that played Mendham last year is completely different from the team we have right now, so we’re going to be ready and we’d really like to get some redemption.”

Staff Writer Lauren Knego: 973-428-6674; lknego@gannettnj.com

GOALS: (M) Sundin 4, O’Brien 4, Siverson 3, Heher 2, A. Ferrara 2, Begley, Plott; (MO) Callaghan, McEvoy; ASSISTS: (M) O’Brien 3, Heher 3, Begley 2, Hersh, A. Ferrara; SAVES: (M) Drake 7, Kitchen 1; (MO) Kovats 11.