Morristown trounces Bridgewater-Raritan, advances back to North, Group 4 final

Braeden Siverson (14) of Morristown tries to get past Jane Middleton (16) of Chatham during the girls lacrosse Morris County Tournament Final between Morristown and Chatham at Mount Olive High School in Mount Olive, NJ on Saturday, May 13, 2023.

Morristown has come a long way since a one-goal loss to Ridgewood on April 18.

The Colonials, ranked No. 2 in the NJ.com Top 20, started the season 3-2 with losses against Summit and Ridgewood, and according to Braeden Siverson, the loss to the Hilltoppers was the worst loss that the senior class had experienced in three years.

“After the loss (to Summit) we all just looked at each other and we knew that we never wanted to feel that way again,” Siverson said. “As a senior that was our biggest loss in our three seasons that we played. It was a wake up call and it sure did wake us up.”

Two games later Morristown fell to Ridgewood 10-9, the same team it had defeated in the sectional final last year.

“We really didn’t have a full starting lineup at that point because of how many seniors we lost from the year before,” Morristown’s Katie Clark said of the early losses. “So we really just were still trying to figure out who was out there, the chemistry and who worked well together.”

Morristown went to work, learned from all of its early mistakes and found the right chemistry on the field and hasn’t suffered a loss since. On Friday afternoon, the second-seeded Colonials extended their win streak to 15-straight games with a 17-7 victory over third-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan in the NJSIAA North Jersey, Group 4 Tournament semifinals at Morristown High School.

“It’s just an amazing feeling, we’re just so grateful to have an amazing coach that led us to a sectional final again,” Clark said. “Just to have all of my teammates, everybody wants the same goal and that’s winning a sectional final and winning a state final.”

Morristown jumped out to a 4-1 lead with 9:58 remaining in the first half, but Bridgewater-Raritan scored three-straight goals in the final 9:01 to send the game to halftime tied 4-4.

Anna Rivetti scored on an assist from Megan O’Brien to open the second half and give the Colonials a 5-4 lead, but back-to-back goals from Hailey Waldron and Giada Catanzaro gave the Panthers their first lead of the game, 6-5, with 19:42 left.

“I think we just knew going in they were a challenging team and we don’t face them that much, but in states we just knew we had to bring our ‘A’ game because they have some really great players on their team so we just had to come out hard,” Clark said. “We just have to know that we have to work together and if they do score, we all have to come together and just be ready for the next play and be ready for what’s going to come at us.”

Bridgewater-Raritan didn’t score again until there was 3:37 remaining in the game, and in that time Morristown scored 11-straight goals and led 16-6. Kelly MacKinney was the one who scored to cut the lead to 16-7, but Siverson capped the scoring with her fifth goal of the day with 2:39 left for the 17-7 final.

For the Panthers, which had won its two state tournament games by a combined 34-4, it was their second-lowest goal total of the season. MacKinney, Bridgewater-Raritan’s leading scorer, finished with four goals, one assist and four draw controls. Waldron contributed one goal and five draw controls while Giada Catanzaro scored twice.

“I used to play against (MacKinney) so I was like I’m going to take on this challenge, and I think just face-guarding her and making sure she wasn’t a threat because of how many goals she scored in the first half,” Clark said. “We just needed to step up and really be tight on her.”

For Morristown, Siverson led with five goals, two assists and nine draw controls. Rivetti finished with four goals and two draw controls and O’Brien chipped in four goals and two assists. Violet Barron totaled two goals and one assist and Caroline Condon added two goals and one draw control. Goalie Olivia Licardi posted five saves.

Up next for Morristown is a rematch against top-seeded Ridgewood in the sectional final on Monday. The Maroons defeated fifth-seeded Montclair 20-9 in the other semifinal on Thursday. Last year, the Colonials defeated Ridgewood 14-13 in overtime to win their first sectional title since 2015.

“We are expecting that they’re going to come back hard,” Siverson said of Ridgewood. “We beat them last year in overtime, they want revenge and we’re ready to take on that pressure and hopefully convert that into positive energy and composure.”

“That loss that we had against them this year really stuck to us, and we really regrouped after that,” Clark added. “We’re definitely using that loss as fuel and I’m sure they’re using the loss last year as fuel as well.”

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Lauren Knego covers girls lacrosse and may be reached at lknego@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenknego.

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