Chatham girls lacrosse takes care of Shawnee to repeat as state champion
FLEMINGTON − The road to the Group 3 girls lacrosse championship continues to run through Chatham in Morris County.
The Cougars successfully defended their NJSIAA state title on Saturday with a 12-8 victory over Shawnee in the Group 3 final at Stewart Field at Hunterdon Central High School.
Senior Stella Straka scored a game-high four goals and Sophia Claps contributed with three as the Cougars closed out the season with a 18-4 record. Shawnee concludes its campaign at 19-2.
“This may be the best feeling ever. There’s nothing quite like it. Ever since we were little kids this is something we wanted to do. And to have done it not once, but twice is just a great feeling,” Straka, a Fairfield commit, said. “We knew going into the season we had to have players that filled the roles of graduated seniors. It was great to see everyone step up in this game. It’s a great way to end the season.”
The first half was a see-saw battle that featured four lead changes in the first 25 minutes. Shawnee raced out to a 4-1 lead with just over 14 minutes to go in the half before Chatham tied it on three straight goals from Straka and two from Claps. Abby Richards scored the go-ahead goal with 7:22 to play for a 5-4 lead before Grace Hallahan and Claps went back-to-back, giving the Cougars a 6-5 advantage at the half.
“It’s been such a journey with this team. Coming here my sophomore year and losing to Morristown just put a fire under me. I know coming in after winning last year, we knew we wanted to do it again,” Claps, a Tufts commit, said. “I’m so happy I got the opportunity to play with an amazing group of girls. I know a lot of us are going to play against each other in college. I’m so happy our senior class got to do it again twice.”
What it means
Chatham won its second straight Group 3 title and sixth in program history. The Cougars have reached a state final three years in a row. The Morris County school lost to Morristown in the 2021 final and defeated Moorestown, 9-8, in last year’s title game. Chatham’s other titles were in 2008, and 2010-2012.
Shawnee saw its 14-game win streak come to an end. The Renegades came into Saturday’s final having won 19 of its last 20 games.
Shawnee is third in state history with eight state titles. The Renegades last captured an NJSIAA crown in 2013.
Key sequence
Clinging to a 9-8 lead with 6:18 left to play, Chatham scored three straight times on goals by Claire Engelkraut, Stratka and Sophie Davenport, to secure the victory.
“Having a few one-goal losses earlier in the season, we knew we had to dominate and play a full fifty minutes.” Claps said. “We always have a target on our backs. Having teams play to us and us doing our own thing, makes us a better team.”
They said it
“Our seniors have a lot of experience. We played a lot of games this year. We were composed all year, no matter what. They stayed composed today and that was the difference.” - Chatham coach Helen McCutcheon Oliver.
“There’s 12 seniors and we’ve been playing together since kindergarten. We have our mojo and we know how to play to each other’s strengths. There were six of us on the team sophomore year when we lost in the state final. So, we knew what it felt like to lose. We came out today and played.” – Straka.
This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Chatham NJ girls lacrosse tops Shawnee to repeat as state champion
