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Mountain Lakes beat West Essex by a goal when the two teams met early this season. But few expected the same result when the squads met up in the semi-finals of the New Jersey girls' lacrosse Tournament of Champions.
Those people were right--but hardly in the way they anticipated. The Lakers dominated the game with an offensive outburst and rolled into the final with an impressive performance.
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Just days after the Mountain Lakes defense shined in the Group I final, a 6-3 win over Shore Regional, it was the Lakers' offense on display in this contest at Monmouth University. The Lakers had two big runs in the game, scoring six straight goals after conceding the first score of the contest. Then after the Knights closed to within 8-6 early in the second half, Mountain Lakes scored the next seven to put the game away.
Britt Dignes didn't have to stand on her head, but still came away with 15 saves in another strong performance for the Lakers. Alex Mintz led Mountain Lakes, scoring six times, and Grace Newfrock and Jordan Renna chipped in with three apiece.
The Lakers move on to the Tournament of Champions final at Rutgers on Saturday. There they'll meet Moorestown, the nine-time defending champion which has a 209-game lacrosse winning streak against New Jersey high schools. It would be a tremendous sports accomplishment for Mountain Lakes to win that game, but these Lakers have already exceeded everyone's expectations--except maybe their own. -- Paul Mencher for Jersey Sports Now
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