Shore Hardware Inside Lacrosse: Kingsway survives EHT’s second-half surge to advance in playoffs

By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — Meghan Bennett scored for Kingsway early in the second half of the opening round of the South Jersey Group 4 playoffs, and with an 11-4 lead it looked as though the Dragons were on the verge of blowing out Egg Harbor Township, which was hosting a playoff game for the first time in school history. But the Eagles had come too far this season to simply throw in the towel.

EHT rallied for three straight goals to cut the deficit to 11-7, then, after the Dragons went on a spurt to go up 14-7, the Eagles rallied again. But Kingsway did enough to hold off EHT down the stretch, as the No. 10 Dragons scored a 14-8 victory over the No. 7 Eagles to advance to the second round. Kingsway advances to face second-seeded Lenape on Friday.
The Eagles (12-8) got an early goal from Emily Gargan to tie the game, 1-1, but then Kingsway ripped off three straight goals to take a 4-1 lead, and led 7-2 by the end of the first half. EHT had all kinds of trouble containing Bennett and Haley Phalines, who combined to notch four of the Dragons’ seven first-half goals. And Phalines, who is about six feet tall, presented a big challenge on faceoffs.
“You have to get it out and away. She wants it to go straight up for a self draw and we needed to get it out to our little girls,” said EHT coach Melissa Williams. “Our attack had some problems finding the back of the cage in the beginning of the game. We had a good comeback, but just fell short with the time. Their center (Phalines) was very tall and that’s a big advantage. And the last time we saw them, in a scrimmage, they had a different goalie. We have a few girls hurt who were significant for us in the beginning of the season, so with them out and us not pulling through with goals in the beginning of the game — we had more shots on cage, if we had just finished some of them it would have been a different game.”

Kingsway (6-12) went ahead by as much as 10-2 with a strong start to the second half, getting a pair of goals from Jules Campagna, but EHT responded with goals by Gigi DeCaprio and Laine Walterson, and after a goal from Kingsway, the Eagles ripped off three straight tallies to cut the deficit to 11-7. Walterson, Gargan and Hayley Henderson all scored during that stretch, but the Dragons responded with three goals of their own — including a pair by Campagna — to push the lead out to 14-7. Bennett finished with four goals and an assist, Campagna added four goals and two assists, and Pahlines and Payton Ruwet combined for five more goals. Henderson, a freshman, led the Eagles with three goals while Gargan, another freshman, added two more. DeCaprio and Walterson also scored a pair of goals each.
“At the end of the day, we came this far and made history. We didn’t win the game, but we made history by having a home playoff game, and that’s big for EHT. Next time we have to see a ‘W’ in the column instead of a loss,” Williams said. “That next thing we need is depth coming in off the sideline. We need to be that well-oiled machine and we’re not there yet, but we’ll get there. The girls who had a great game for us tonight are young. We’re a young program and we’re excited about what’s next. I said, ‘some of you guys ended your career here tonight, but tomorrow starts the next group.’ The younger girls need to be happy with what (the seniors) taught them, so that when they do move on and up they can remember what the seniors taught them.”
What’s next: (10) Kingsway travels to (2) Lenape on Friday at 4 p.m. in the South Jersey Group 3 quarterfinals. (7) EHT’s season is complete.
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays