Breaking down MCT quarterfinal matchups
It’s down to eight teams in the girls lacrosse Mercer County Tournament, and although there are some familiar faces there are a trio of programs looking for their first county title.
Due to the pandemic, this is the first full county tournament since the 2019 season.
No. 9 Hightstown advanced with an upset of No. 8 Hopewell Valley, No. 7 Robbinsville has been consistent all season and No. 5 Hun seems to be peaking at the right time.
Those three programs have their sights on some history in bringing home the MCT trophy.
Top-seeded Lawrenceville, which has won the last three tournaments, is no stranger, No. 2 Allentown picked up the hardware in 2013, No. 3 Princeton’s last tourney title was in 2011, No. 6 Princeton Day won in 2010 and Notre Dame won two straight in 2015 and 2016.
Using a tiered bracket, this is the first tournament game for the top four seeds.
Here’s a look at each quarterfinal game and the semifinals are set for Allentown on Wednesday.
NO. 9 HIGHTSTOWN (6-7) AT NO. 1 LAWRENCEVILLE (7-4)
After being away for two years, the Big Red are ready to make a run at another MCT title.
“We are excited to be returning to the MCT,” said Lawrenceville coach Lisa Ewanchyna. “Our team has learned a lot about ourselves in the past few weeks and are trending in the right direction.”
On the other side is a Hightstown team that is prepared to leave it all on the field.
“The team is beyond excited and proud of themselves for making it to the quarterfinal round of the tournament,” said firstyear coach Emma Fenning. “They have worked extremely hard this season and the success shows that.”
Both teams have tremendous senior leadership and that is joined by some very talented underclassmen.
Freshman Lexie Koch has 27 goals to lead the Big Red, Jaylyn Bennett has been steady with 23 goals and 11 assists, Chloe Babich added 23 goals and Bella Koch, who is the catalyst for some much of Lawrenceville’s success, has21 goals and a team high 17 assists.
For all you MCT historians, Bella and Lexie’s sister, Olivia (now at Princeton), was the last County Tournament Most Valuable Player.
Getting a great win over Hopewell Valley in the first round the Rams are coming in fired up.
“This whole season, I have been reinforcing to the team that if we play our game physically and mentally, we will succeed and this win (Hopewell) proved that,” said Fenning. “Playing our game and the game we have been striving for is what was the key for us to beat a very talented Hopewell team.”
The Rams, who had lost three straight before the tournament, are led by freshman Sophia Cammarata with 33 goals and 12 assists. Megan Molinelli brings leadership and 30 goals.
This is the first meeting of these two.
NO. 7 ROBBINSVILLE (10-4) AT NO. 2 ALLENTOWN (10-4)
This is one of the two games that are a rematch of a regular season game and this was a quite a game as Allentown pulled out a 9-7 win.
The Redbirds have amped up the schedule for this time of the year and hoping it all pays off.
Allentown has seen senior Jolee Roth with a breakout season with 51 goals and 11 assists, Chloe Conti, who is just a sophomore has been fantastic with 29 goals and a team high 37 assists, Abby von Harten adds 26 goals and freshman Delaney Nolan has 22 goals.
The Redbirds have won at least 15 straight over Robbinsville.
Both teams could have a little better record as Allentown’s four losses are by eight goals, including two by one goal and the Ravens four have been by just 13 goals.
“After playing Allentown already this season and fixing some things within our gameplay along the way, we are confident going into this game,” said Ravens coach JennaMarie Colicchia. “We know it will be a battle, but it is one we are more prepared for than ever. Our team trusts in each other and are willing to sacrifice on the field to achieve more.”
The Ravens have won 7-of-10 and been a consistent team all season.
Kendall Franke, a sophomore, leads the way with 35 goals, Danielle Sieja has a balanced scoring ticket with 28 goals and 16 assists, Sydney Sieja has 27 goals and Alyssa Leale has 23 goals.
Can the Ravens pull off the upset or will the Redbirds schedule pay dividends?
NO. 6 PRINCETON DAY (7-7) AT NO. 3 PRINCETON (11-4)
This is the other game that saw these two battle during the regular season. Princeton built a nice lead only to see the Panthers come battling back before falling 14-13.
This one should be just as tight.
“When the MCT bracket came out we knew there was a very strong possibly we would be meeting PDS again in the quarterfinal round,” said Princeton coach Katie Federico. “The last game was a battle and we were able to fight back and secure a win. PDS is going to come back even stronger and with more intensity. I told my players that if they play smart, as well as hard, and execute plays and passing cleanly, we can most definitely win. It’s going to be an intense and high level game, but that is also the fun part of tournament play.”
Princeton has one of the most talented offensive players around in Kate Becker with 66 goals and 16 assists. Sophomore Riley Devlin adds 48 goals and 12 assists and the quarterback of the Tigers is Grace Rebak with 13 goals and 32 assists.
Gigi Peloso is solid in the cage for the Tigers.
Setting the stage for PDS is Ali Surace the senior has 28 goals and 15 assists and is always in the right spot at the right time.
Paige Gardner leads PDS with 45 goals, Tessa Caputo has 21 goals and 21 assists. Elle Anhut has returned from an injury scoring nine goals in the last two games.
This is legendary and Hall of Fame coach Jill Thomas’ last season and no doubt her troops would love to send her out on a high note.
NO. 5 HUN (6-4)
AT NO. 4 NOTRE DAME (5-6)
This is one of the more intriguing games of the quarterfinals.
The Irish have been hit by the injury bug most of the season. Amelia Eilbacher has been out all year after scoring 27 goals as a freshman and recently they lost leading scorer Sammy Renda to an injury.
They will rely on Alyssa Leinhard with 24 goals and Naomi Kahney (19 goals and 10 assists).
ND has always played good defense, now it has to play great defense.
Hun will be looking for its first-ever win over Notre Dame and they will do it with a team that is young but has grown up a lot during the season.
The Raiders are led by a pair of sophomores in Ava Olender with goals and Olivia Kim with 26 goals.
Expect this to be a tight defensive struggle.
For more girls lacrosse coverage, follow Joe on Twitter @j_ogorman819 and reach him at jogorman@trentonian. com