By Scott Stump - Senior Editor
WEST LONG BRANCH - With
Rumson-Fair Haven riding a tidal wave of momentum to seize the lead in the second half against
Shore in Wednesday's Shore Conference Girls Lacrosse Tournament final, the defending champion Blue Devils knew that the fine line between their fourth straight SCT title and the gigantic headline for a stunning comeback by the Bulldogs was going to come down to one thing.
"It started with the draws,'' said Shore coach Chris Raichle. "The first five or six possessions (of the second half), they won all the draws. Once we turned that around, we gave ourselves a chance.''
Rumson-Fair Haven had rattled off seven straight goals to recover from a six-goal deficit in the first half to take the lead, and Shore was going to need its big guns to make some plays or one of the biggest upsets in the state this season would become a reality. Winning the draws often comes down to all-out hustle, and Rumson was winning that battle before the Blue Devils' veterans decided enough was enough.
"I think in our subconscious we were just thinking, 'We must win this game, so let's stop screwing around,''' said Shore senior attack Kelly Draper, one of the state's top players.
Draper and senior midfielder Ali Houlis made it happen in the final three minutes, as Houlis won three straight draws while Draper scored or assisted on the final four goals to give Shore a thrilling, 12-10 win over the rival Bulldogs on the turf at Monmouth University. With Draper drawing the defense while operating behind the net, she found cutting junior attack Kaylee Mikolon for a point-blank shot for her only goal of the game to snap a 10-10 tie and gave the Blue Devils the lead a lead they wouldn't relinquish with 1:21 left in the game.
"You want it in Kelly and Ali's hands, simple as that,'' Raichle said. "So we put them behind the net and let them work their magic.''
"(Rumson's) plan was to double, which they did, but every once in a while we were able to get one through,'' Draper said.
At that point, the game essentially came down to winning the draw, as either Shore was going to bleed the clock or Rumson was going to get one final chance to tie it. That's when Houlis gained possession and all but sealed the Blue Devils' seventh overall SCT title and sixth in the last seven years, with senior Devin Whalen adding an insurance goal with 10 seconds left for good measure.
"That's definitely a main focus of mine,'' Houlis said about winning the draws. "It's my job to get as many scrappy balls as I can. It's situations like that that you have to come up with it. We came up with two draws in clutch situations, and that's what propelled us to win.''
"Ali Houlis got the last three draws, which was huge,'' said Draper, a Lehigh-bound senior who finished with a game-high four goals and three assists.
It sent the Bulldogs (13-3) home disappointed for the third time this season, as all of their losses have been to Shore.
"It was all about getting the draw,'' said Rumson coach Amy O'Keefe. "That's the way it always is when we play them. Whoever gets the draw, usually that time down, they score.
"It's very frustrating because we're so great, and we played right with the No. 5 team in the state, but we don't have anything concrete to show for it. They're in our division and now we lost to them in the Shore Conference (Tournament).''
Shore (17-1) had zoomed out to an 8-2 lead in the first half behind three goals by Cori Murray and a pair by Draper, but a goal by Rumson's Hope Atkinson with 2:03 left in the half proved to be the spark the Bulldogs (13-3) were looking for as they trailed 8-3 at the break.
"They were sagging the eight(-meter area) in the first half, and we were our own enemy,'' O'Keefe said. "We just needed to spread it out a little bit and get some picks, and we were able to come back.''
Alexis Harrison started the second half streak for Rumson with a goal that cut the lead to four, then Danielle Gordon followed with a score on an assist by Hope Atkinson to slice it to 8-5 with 20:51 still to go in the game. As the Bulldogs continued to win the draws and control possession, Rumson standout Celee Belmonte fired a shot into the lower left corner of the net to make it 8-6 and get the Bulldogs' crowd fired up.
Once Megan Douty took a pass from Leighann Torcivia on the left side and fired a shot into the net to cut it to 8-7, Raichle had seen enough and called timeout.
"I'm not surprised (Rumson) came back,'' Raichle said. "They're fast and they are talented.''
"It was basically a wake-up call that if we don't start winning the draws, we won't win,'' Draper said.
The timeout still wasn't enough to slow down the Bulldogs' onslaught as Torcivia drew a roar when she juked a defender, spun left and unloaded a low shot that found the back of the net to tie the game at eight with 13:42 to go. Rumson's head of steam peaked when Belmonte took a pass from Atkinson, faked a high shot and then beat the goalie low and to the left for an improbable 9-8 lead with 8:22 left in the game.
That got Shore's attention, as Draper scored an unassisted goal for Shore's first tally of the second half with 7:44 remaining to tie the game. Rumson responded by seizing the lead back on an unassisted goal by Torcivia on a run down the right side with 6:02 left in the game.
Shore finally began asserting itself on the draws, resulting in a game-tying goal by Draper with 3:43 left, and then Mikolon's game-winning goal on a pass from Draper with only 1:21 on the clock.
"The fact that they paid so much attention to Kelly and Ali opened up the middle for Kaylee,'' Raichle said.
That three-minute crucible of pressure to end the game is where Shore relied on its experience and did not back down.
"We've been in situations like that before, and our mentality was just to outhustle them,'' Houlis said.
"We were a little flustered, but the experience of being here before helped us in the last three minutes,'' Raichle said. "We have some people that we can rely on to take the ball. We calmed down a little, and we took care of business.''
"Business-like'' is certainly the way to describe Shore's reaction in winning its fourth straight SCT title. There were no pile-ons, no group hugs, just a few stick taps and some scattered high fives despite the fact that a small Group II school had once again plowed through to another title.
The bar has been set so high for the Blue Devils, whose only loss is an overtime setback to a Moorestown team that has not lost to a New Jersey opponent since 1999, that they were almost more disappointed at allowing Rumson's comeback than euphoric over adding another plaque to the trophy case. Raichle had to remind them that it's not easy to come out on top in a tournament filled with bigger schools, but that still wasn't enough.
"I wish it felt better,'' Draper said. "We're not expected to win by just two goals. Rumson played great, but I expected a lot more out of our complete effort.''
"It's definitely a huge accomplishment and we're extremely proud, but it's disappointing because of the way we played in the second half,'' Houlis said. "It's always hard with Rumson because they are our rivals.''
While that sounds like a team groaning under the weight of monstrous expectations, that's the way the Blue Devils like it. They know that when they win, it's almost a ho-hum affair, but if they lose to another Shore Conference team it will be shouted from the rooftops.
"Everybody expects us to win and we definitely have the target on our back, but it's something we take pride in,'' Houlis said.
"We like the pressure,'' Draper said. "It's the engine that drives us.''
So does that mean a tough practice might be in store for them on Thursday despite Wednesday's great accomplishment?
"You can count on it,'' Draper said before smiling.
E-mail: stump@digitalsports.com
Box score
Shore 12, Rumson-FH 10Goals: (S) Draper 4, Murray 3, Houlis, Pierce, Whalen, Mikolon, Watts; (R) Belmonte 2, Atkinson 2, Torcivia 2, Harrison, Gordon, Douty, Beriont.
Assists: (S) Draper 3, Pierce. (R) Torcivia 2, Harrison, Atkinson, Belmonte.
Saves: (S) DeScenza 8; (R) Phillips 4.
Shots: Rumson, 22-21.