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Schools

Summit Lacrosse Beats Chatham 6-5

The Hilltoppers survived their toughest test of the season to remain undefeated.

While it didn’t take five overtimes like their , Summit’s 6-5 win over Chatham certainly did not disappoint. The Hilltoppers turned in a strong defensive effort and an impressive showing by goalie Alex Salazar who made eleven saves. Salazar faced eight Cougars shots in the final period as the visiting team looked to tie the score.

“They have some good shooters and I let in a couple at the start,” said the senior goalie. “I realized I really needed to make some saves to get us going. Our whole game is fueled by us making stops to get us going.”

Chatham jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on strikes just under five minutes into the first period. The Cougars came out of the gate as the more aggressive team and were able to create good chances. On the other end, Chatham’s defense was very disciplined to start the game, frustrating Summit’s patented attack.

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The Hilltoppers finally got on the board with just 1.3 seconds left in the first as Tommy Celmer (1 G, 2 A) scored a pretty goal from the left side as he was falling over.

Chatham picked up a slash and a cross check on the same play to start the second period giving the Hilltoppers an early two-man advantage. Summit struck quickly as Celmer found a streaking Austin Carbone (1 G) for the finish to tie the game at two. Still a man down, Chatham responded quickly as Kyle Howard-Johnson ripped off a blast from the left side to put his team right back on top.

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The rest of the period was all Summit, first as Nick Kilkowski (2 G, 1 A) picked up two unassisted goals in a span of just over a minute to put Summit ahead 4-3. Kilkowski showed off his shifty pace on both goals as he weaved through traffic to break free for shot opportunities. The second goal saw Kilkowski juke to his left across the front of the net until he got a near point blank opportunity.

Summit added one more goal with 40.2 seconds before halftime when Tommy Celmer assisted Harry McCreary for the goal right out of a timeout. 

The two teams traded goals in the third period to bring the score to 6-4 as the fourth quarter began. Chatham’s offense turned in their best period of the afternoon, getting eight shots on goal against Salazar. The goalie turned away several difficult shots early in the period and did not let in a Cougar goal until the 1:50 mark in the quarter. 

Holding onto a slim 6-5 lead, Thomas Lackey (4 GB) was able to win the draw and the Hilltoppers were able to kill a good portion of the remaining time as they possessed the ball in their own zone. The Summit attacking players did a great job of maintaining the possession and dodging the desperate Chatham defenders.

“We really needed to get the ball and Thomas (Lackey) got us possession,” said Salazar. “Bringewatt, Kilkowski, all of those guys are such great athletes that they can just kill that clock.”

The Cougars would get the ball with just over 20 seconds left in the game but were never able to get a solid look on net as the clock ran down.

Next up for the No. 2 Hilltoppers is a trip to Morristown for a matchup with rival No. 3 Delbarton. As always, the rivalry is a strong one as the Hilltoppers get to face off against some of their former teammates who now play for the Green Wave.

“It’ll be interesting, it’s another really good rivalry,” said Salazar. “We’ve been playing with these kids our whole life so it’s some good competition.”

 

Summit       1        4        1        0        6 Chatham       2        1        1        1        5

Groundballs

S- 28

C- 29

Shots

S-14

C-21

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