Two South Jersey Teams Win State Girls' Lacrosse Titles

by Marc Narducci; Photo Marc Narducci | Jun 4, 2019

South Jersey is annually strong in high school girls’ lacrosse and this season has been no different. In lacrosse, there are four state champions crowned and teams from the seven-county South Jersey area competed in three title games, winning two.

The state champions were Haddonfield in Group 2 and Moorestown in Group 3.

Eastern advanced to the Group 4 state final but the Vikings lost to Ridgewood, 9-4 in the Group 4 state final.

Haddonfield earned its second straight Group 2 state title with an 18-7 win over Madison. It wasn’t surprising that Haddonfield won, but the fact that the Bulldogs earned such a convincing win wasn’t expected.

Haddonfield led 7-4 at halftime and then put the game away by scoring the first 10 goals of the second half.

What made the championship most impressive is that Haddonfield accomplished this without two first-team all-conference players, sophomore McKenzie Blake and senior defender Elise Fiannaca, who both suffered season-ending knee injuries in late April.

Leading the championship game effort, Caroline Beckett and Ashley Campo each scored five goals. That should be no surprise, because these are the two leading goal scorers for the Bulldogs, with Beckett scoring 68 goals and Campo 61.

The Bulldogs, despite the injuries, were dominant enroute to the Group 2 title. Haddonfield, which earned the No. 4 seed in the four-team Tournament of Champions, outscored teams 88-24 during the NJSIAA Group 2 tournament.

Like Haddonfield, Moorestown defended its state title of a year ago. The Quakers, who are the defending Tournament of Champions winner, beat perennial power Mendham, 9-8 to win the NJSIAA state Group 3 title.

Ashley Nutt and Rylee Brown led the way in the championship game with three goals each. As usual Moorestown (18-4) played one of the top schedules in the state.

The state championship was the first time in the tournament that Moorestown was seriously challenged. Before that, the Quakers had outscored their opponents, 74-13 in the Group 3 tournament.

Eastern led 3-2 at halftime but Ridgewood (23-1) outscored the Vikings, 7-1 in the second half. It was a difficult ending but a great season for Eastern (18-4). Senior Tori Accardo scored a team-high 59 goals. The Vikings won the highly competitive Olympic Conference American Division with a 9-1 record. That was the deepest division in South Jersey.

The Vikings beat division rival Lenape, 15-5, to win the South Group 4 title, then earned a 9-8 win over Princeton in the state Group 4 semifinal.

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Author: Marc Narducci; Photo by Marc Narducci

Two South Jersey Teams Win State Girls' Lacrosse Titles

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