Celee Belmonte helped Rumson get a third crack at Shore this season with a title on the line.
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TOMS RIVER - Rumson-Fair Haven's girls lacrosse team could have easily gotten caught looking ahead to the final round of the Shore Conference Tournament, where a potential rematch from last year’s final against Shore was waiting.
They could have easily taken Jackson Memorial lightly. They could have easily lost focus. Instead, they easily beat the third-seeded Jaguars 15-6 in the second game of the semifinal round at Toms River South on Tuesday night.
Rumson now gets its wish as it will face off with defending champ Shore Regional in the final at 4 p.m. on Wednesday at Monmouth
University. The Blue Devils beat Rumson twice during the regular season.
“I like being the underdog,'' said Rumson junior attack Celee Belmonte. "It’s fun trying to prove people wrong. Shore is an amazingly talented team, but I think we
match that talent. Beating Shore is our ultimate goal.”
The first half against Jackson began with a back-and-forth battle, with the Bulldogs striking first when junior attack Celee Belmonte found the back of the net.
“We know we have good speed,'' said Rumson coach Amy Wylde. "We wanted
to utilize that and see how they reacted. It worked out well for us,
especially off of quick transitions.”
Jackson's Alex Kneuppel answered shortly after with a goal of her own, but Rumson pulled away when it scored three consecutive goals within 18 seconds of each other. Danielle Gordon scored at the 18:38 mark from a feed from Belmonte, and at 18:29, Belmonte received the ball from the face-off and scored on a two-on-one fast break. Alexis Harrison chipped in with another goal at 18:20 to make the score 4-1.
The Bulldogs continued to dominate the first half, scoring seven more goals before Elyse Fisher added a tally for Jackson with a little less than two minutes remaining on an assist by Jackie Macone.
Sophomore attack Abby Eastwood would give Rumson another goal when she drove coast-to-coast with nine seconds left to gve the Bulldogs a 12-2 lead at halftime.
Rumson used long passes to open up its offense despite only scoring three more goals the rest of the game, and its defense was able to hold off a threatening Jackson squad.
“We set out to match them defensively,” Wylde said. “We knew they would come out really aggressive and they did a great job doubling us. We needed to move the ball and use our speed.”
Jackson had 16 shots on goal to Rumson’s 15, but the Jaguars were unable to find the back of the net. Rumson goalie McKenzie Phillips had 11 saves for the evening while Jackson had nine saves total between its two goalies.