Madison Girls Lax Falls To Unbeaten Chatham

CHATHAM–Huddled together in a timeout with 5:46 to play in the second half, the Madison girls lacrosse team was loose, excited and smiling. They had mighty Chatham, unbeaten and one of the state's elite teams, back on its heels. Moments earlier, Alli Helwig had cut Chatham's lead–which was six as late as the 10-minute mark–down to three.

According to Madison coach Carole Rawding, the Dodgers were finally beginning to tap into their potential, playing with poise and intensity against a top opponent.

Time ran out on Madison Thursday afternoon at Haas Field at Chatham Middle School, and the Dodgers fell, 17-14. But the Dodgers' performance left Rawding satifsfied.

"We came together as a team today," Rawding said. "We worked with confidence, we knew we could play with them. We know we can be in the game with a team like this."

Kathleen Matthews scored five goals for Madison, giving her 19 for the season, and Helwig added four more. Megan Murphy led Chatham with six goals.

The Dodgers dropped their fourth straight game, but all four have been competitive and Rawding believes that her team's level of play Thursday is a result of that competition.

"We are having fun," Rawding said. "Every game is a real game, an intense game of lacrosse. We've had a ton of one-point, two-point games, and now we've been in another one."

Madison (4-4) broke down Chatham's defense in the second half, scoring seven goals on 10 shots. The Cougars (10-0), ranked No. 4 in the LaxPower.com New Jersey girls lacrosse computer rankings and seeded second in this year's Morris County Tournament, had played just one game this season decided by fewer than seven goals. But Madison made it very interesting as time wound down.

Chatham coach Deb Marriott's timeout with 5:46 to play couldn't stop the Dodgers' momentum; two minutes later, Helwig pulled Madison within 15-13 when she finished off a beautiful feed from Ali Foulsham.

"They motivated themselves," Rawding said. "We think we're a good program and a strong team, and this is a longstanding rivalry. I think a game like this could be the turning point in our season."

The Cougars won the ensuing draw and played keep-away until about the two-minute mark, when they won a free position. Madison goalie Shannon Sweeney stopped the shot, but Jaclyn Leto earned another free position. The second time was the charm, and Leto scored to make it 16-13 with 1:44 to go.

Chatham had the next chance to wind the clock down or increase their lead, but Kathryn Maiorano hit the post with 54 seconds left.

Kathleen Matthews scored Madison's 14th goal with 28 seconds left off a free position shot, but Chatham picked up the ensuing draw to put the game out of reach. The Murphy scored the game's final goal with one second to play.

Chatham appeared primed to run away with the game at points during the first half and early in the second. They forced Madison into a ton of turnovers early, and turned those mistakes into transition opportunities.

Six different Cougars scored eight goals over a 12-minute span in the middle of the first half, with Murphy picking up a hat trick at the 5:09 mark. Murphy scored her fourth two minutes later, on a giveaway by Sweeney - one of two such mistakes by the Madison keeper. At that point, it was 11-5 Chatham and the Dodgers seemed shell-shocked.

"We pressured the ball," said Chatham coach Deb Marriott. "We didn't do that in the second half, when I think they were overthinking where they should be instead of focusing on just playing defense."

Chatham's efficient offense continued its strong play out of halftime, scoring two goals in the first five minutes to go ahead, 13-7. The teams traded goals over the next 10 minutes, and Rawding called timeout with 10:18 left and her team's energy level fading. Emma Ehler had just scored to make it 15-9, but the timeout seemed to give the Madison players their second wind.

Every ground ball seemed to go Madison's way, and Chatham's pressure no longer bothered the Dodgers. Matthews kicked off Madison's late run with a goal at the 9:09 mark, her fourth of the game.

"She's a playmaker," Rawding said. "That's the role we want her to take on. She moves quickly in and out of the zone, she's calling plays for us, she's reading the scene. And she's a great shot."

Foulsham and Helwig followed with goals at the 7:37 and 5:46 marks, respectively, cutting the lead to 15-12, and prompting a timeout from the Chatham sideline.

Chatham improved its regular-season winning streak to 13 games. Madison has lost four straight games for the first time since 2005.

NEXT UP
Madison will get a brief break from its grueling schedule Saturday morning, when they host Villa Walsh in the opening round of the Morris County Tournament. Game time is set for 9 a.m. at Madison High School.

The Dodgers, seeded sixth, beat the 11th-seeded Vikings, 18-4, in a regular-season game April 12 at Madison High School.

The winner of the Madison/Villa Walsh matchup will face either third-seeded West Morris or the winner of Thursday's Roxbury/Morris Hills play-in game. That second round game will take place next Saturday May 1, at the site of the higher seed.

BOX SCORE
Madison     7    7  -  14
Chatham   11   6  -  17

GOALS
MAD- Kathleen Matthews 5, Alli Helwig 4, Evan Foulsham 2, Ali Foulsham 2, Chelsea Davies 1
CHAT- Meghan Murphy 6, Emma Ehler 3, Kelsey Perselay 2, Cat McCutchen 2, Jaclyn Leto 2, Katherine Maiorano 1, Brittany Marriott 1

ASSISTS
MAD- Alli Helwig 1, Emily Rutland 1, Kathleen Matthews 1, Chelsea Davies 1, Cecelia Matthews 1
CHAT- Emma Ehler 1, Meghan Murphy 1, Kelsey Perselay 1, Liz Hyde 1, Jaclyn Leto 1

SHOTS ON GOAL
Madison        11  11  -  22
Chatham       16  11  -  27