Girls Lax Defeats Pascack Valley

SUMMIT–The No. 2 seed Summit girls lacrosse team cruised into the second round of the NJSIAA state playoffs with a dominant 20-6 victory over No. 15 Pascack Valley on Friday afternoon. The Hilltoppers have been on a hot streak as of late, winning 12 consecutive games to improve their record to 14-3 on the season.

"It was a real team effort today," Summit head coach Rob Grella said. "All of the girls got on the field, and we had a few come up from JV to play as well."

Although Pascack Valley's Abby Illian tallied the game's first goal just over two minutes into the game, Summit was able to respond with eight unanswered goals in the next seven minutes of play. Summit sophomore Kate Martino led the surge with three goals and three assists in those seven minutes.

"I think we played well today," Martino said. "We started the game a little slow, but definitely finished strong."

Fellow sophomore Caroline Cordrey also helped spark the Hilltopper run by making her presence known in the draw circle. Summit won the first nine draws of the game.

"If we can win draws and score quickly, that really builds our confidence and gives us momentum," Cordrey said.

Pascack Valley controlled their first draw of the game at the 15:14 mark, now trailing Summit 8-1. The team took immediate advantage of the offensive opportunity, however, and Illian scored her second goal of the game just 22 seconds after the draw control.

Pascack Valley won the following draw and Kait Wagner quickly found the back of the net to cut Summit's lead to 8-3 with 14:10 remaining in the first half.

With Pascack Valley now controlling more draws, Summit's defense had to step up. Hilltopper Katie Stuke did just that, aggressively pursuing a Pascack Valley attacker until she won possession. Seconds later, Summit's Mary Pomeroy netted her third goal of the half to end Pascack Valley's two-goal streak and boost Summit's lead to 9-3 with 12:56 on the clock.

Tenacious Hilltopper defense once again resulted in a goal when sophomore Megan Paytas made a strong takeaway check to gain possession for her team. One minute later, Cordrey scored to give her team an 11-3 lead with 9:50 remaining until halftime.

The Hilltoppers continued to make the most of their offensive opportunities, netting three more first half goals courtesy of Cordrey, Erika Hartwyk, and Martino. Although Pascack Valley's Wagner scored the final goal of the half, Summit entered the break with a commanding 14-4 advantage.

The Hilltoppers continued their offensive dominance in the second half, winning multiple draws and scoring the first four goals of the half. Goals by Cordrey, Kendall Speno, and two more Hartwyk scores gave Summit an 18-4 lead with just over seven minutes remaining in the game.

Pascack Valley was able to win a pair of draws late in the second half, and the team scored on both possessions. But in the end, Summit proved to be too much for their opponent to handle. Freshman Maggie Lees and junior Maggie Arms scored the final two goals of the game to propel the Hilltoppers to a 20-6 victory.

"We played a little sloppy early on, but it was definitely a good win," Grella said. "I'm happy that we responded, but we need to tighten up offensively and defensively because we have quite the road ahead of us."

Kate Martino led the way for the Hilltoppers with four goals and five assists on the afternoon. Caroline Cordrey had four goals and two assists, and Mary Pomeroy and Erika Hartwyk each added three goals.

In order to add to their winning streak and advance further in the state tournament, sophomores Martino and Cordrey believe that it all comes down to mental toughness and decision making.

"Now that we're in the state tournament, I think a lot of it comes down to being mentally prepared," Martino said. "We just need to stay focused and work hard every day, and leave it all on the field."

"I think we need to work on being patient and selective on offense–to know when we have it and when we don't," Cordrey added.

Summit hosts No. 7 Delaware Valley in the second round of the state tournament on Monday at 4 p.m.