Phoebe Krukis scored 3 goals and added an assist for Passaic Tech, which advanced to the Passaic County Tournament semifinals for the first time in program history with a 13-5 victory over Pompton Lakes.
WAYNE – When Passaic County Tech head coach Michelle Shackil took over the girls’ lacrosse program she knew the uphill climb ahead. The first step was simply bringing more bodies into the program. Then it was on to being competitive in games, even if most of them were just moral victories. With a full roster of players committed to the sport, the goals for this season were clear. Equal the school record set last year for wins in a season and to reach the Passaic County Tournament semifinals for the first time in school history.
Check and check.
Emily Whartnaby found the back of the net five times and Phoebe Krukis added three goals and an assist as fourth-seeded Passaic County Tech pitched a second-half shutout and advanced to the Passaic County semifinals with a 13-5 victory over fifth-seeded Pompton Lakes on Monday afternoon in Wayne.
“I think today was a really important game for us and we all contributed to this win,” said Krukis. “We spread the ball around and had a lot of different players score. Winning a county tournament game was something we’ve been looking forward to. This team has really grown and this was a defining game for our season up to this point.”
Early goals from Whartnaby and Stella Matthews got the Bulldogs off to a hot start. They cruised through most of the first half until a few defensive miscues led to free positions. Claire Freeman scored on back-to-back ones 20 seconds apart late in the first half to cut the lead to one and seemingly give the Cardinals a huge momentum swing going into halftime. However, the Bulldogs were able to make one last push up the field in the waning seconds with Whartnaby slicing between two defenders and scoring with eight seconds left to bring the momentum back in favor of PCT with a 7-5 halftime lead.
“I knew it was down to the last few seconds so I had to make a move and get off a shot,” said Whartnaby. “We wanted our first county win so we had to step up and play well in the third quarter.”
Claire Freeman netted a hat trick for Pompton Lakes.
That late surge from Pompton Lakes was the wake-up call the Bulldogs’ defense needed. They responded by playing lights out in the second half by allowing just three shots on goal, all of which were saved by goalie Hayden Ethirveersingam.
The Bulldogs went into attack mode, twice scoring goals less than 30 seconds apart. First, it was Whartnaby and Ava Molina scoring consecutive goals midway through the third quarter. Then in the final 21 seconds, the Bulldogs received goals from surprising sources. Genesis Kang ripped a shot into the back of the net and then Avery Alway scored at the buzzer to make it a seven-goal lead, 12-5.
Whartnaby led the way with five goals and Ethirveersingam finished with 11 saves for PCT (8-3), which equaled its win total from last year. Freeman had a hat trick to lead Pompton Lakes (5-7).
PCT will face a tough task in the Passaic County Tournament semis against top-seeded Wayne Hills. With both of their goals for the season having been reached with still plenty of games left to play, Shackil feels that her team will play even more relaxed and come up with new goals to strive for.
“Each year I’ve been trying to get the girls to break one more barrier,” said Shackil, who is in her fourth year at the helm. “We keep emphasizing that this is a team sport. We moved the ball around well on offense and did an excellent job defensively in the second half by working together. This was a great win for our program and I could not more proud of these girls.”
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