Here is the story by Lauren Knego of NJ.com –
Heading into Saturday’s Union County Tournament final against Summit, Oak Knoll knew it needed to switch up its game plan and do something unexpected.
The second-seeded Royals, ranked No. 7 in the NJ.com Top 20, had junior Kelsey Scully back from an ACL injury and also decided to put senior defender Julia Ramsey on the draw circle.
Those two changes, along with working tirelessly in practice since their first loss to the Hilltoppers earlier this season, led the Royals to their third-straight Union County Tournament title with an 11-9 victory over top-seeded Summit on Saturday afternoon at Johnson High School.
“They’re such a great team and always so fun to play against,” Ramsey said. “They did great against us earlier in the season and they smoked us, so we just worked so hard from then on and had a lot to prove and I think we really came out strong today.”
It was the first loss to an in-state opponent for Summit, ranked No. 1 in the NJ.com Top 20, since a 9-6 loss to Oak Knoll in the county final last year, which was a run of 19-straight games.
“Our junior Kelsey Scully, this is her second game back from an ACL injury, she was a huge change and we’re so grateful for her to be back,” Oak Knoll’s Darby Campbell said. “And also Julia (Ramsey), this was her first day on the circle which was enormous. She did amazing and I think that just switched it up a little bit and gave it a different look and it was something that they probably weren’t ready for, so I think we did a really good job just changing it up and trying new looks.
“I don’t think anyone thought this was going to be a game and we just used that to power us. We love playing them because it’s just always such a fun game, so being able to come out here and compete is just always so much fun and we just try to play for each other and that’s how we got the win today.”
When Oak Knoll lost to Summit 11-4 back on April 20, the Hilltoppers held the edge on draw controls 12-5. With Ramsey on the draw on Saturday, the Royals won the first two and jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first two minutes. Ramsey went on to win seven draw controls and Oak Knoll turned the tables, winning 14 draw controls to Summit’s eight.
“It was a lot of fun, I was definitely nervous,” Ramsey said. “I’m a defender so I haven’t been on the circle since like middle school, but my coach had a lot of trust in me and that empowered me to go out and play hard.”
Oak Knoll took a 6-3 lead after a goal from Sophia Loschert with 5:44 left, but Lauren Riley scored on an assist from Anya Wardle with 2:08 remaining and the game went to halftime with the Royals up 6-4.
Summit cut it to one, 6-5, on a free position goal from Jane Freeman with 21:51 left in the game, but a goal from Loschert put Oak Knoll ahead 7-5 with 20:15 left.
The Hilltoppers then scored back-to-back goals from Lily Spinner and Sloane Ricciuti to tie the game 7-7 with 15:15 remaining, but Campbell scored on an assist from Lauren Dietrich to retake the lead 8-7 one minute later.
“We really just tried to focus on what we were doing and not let them dictate what we were going to do,” Campbell said. “We always talk about playing Oak Knoll lacrosse and playing for something bigger than ourselves, and I think today we just really set each other up and played for each other and that ultimately just gave us a lot of success.”
A free position goal from Spinner retied the game 8-8 with 10:16 remaining, but the Royals scored three-straight goals in the span of four minutes to take an 11-8 lead with 1:13 left in the game.
Spinner scored the final goal of the game with one minute remaining for the 11-9 final.
“I think it just shows how much of a community and the love that we have for each other and how dedicated we were to getting better after our first game against them this season,” Campbell said of winning three-straight county titles. “We hated that feeling so we knew we never wanted to feel it again. We just came to practice every day, getting better, buying into the game plan, trusting in each other and playing for each other. We always say that all the time and I think that doing that today a little bit extra helped us get the win.”
Campbell led Oak Knoll with three goals and three assists, while Charlotte Sutton and Loschert each finished with two goals and one assist. Betsy Burton contributed one goal, one assist and five draw controls. Madeline Sepe posted eight saves.
For Summit, Spinner recorded four goals. Riley added two goals and two draw controls and Ricciuti scored twice. Nell Ducey totaled five draw controls and Charlotte Burke made three saves.
Saturday’s game was the last time this season that Summit and Oak Knoll will face each other. These two teams played in the final Tournament of Champions final last year, with the Hilltoppers winning its first title since 2016.
“Yes and no,” Campbell said when asked if it was disappointing that Oak Knoll and Summit won’t play again. “I think this is the best feeling in the world being able to leave this the way we left it for the last time ever, seeing them on a win on the biggest stage, especially since we don’t have a TOC. Considering that was our TOC matchup from last year, this is just the greatest feeling in the world. All credit to them, they’re an amazing team and they’re going to go very far, all of them individually as well, so it was fun being able to play them twice and we’re grateful we were able to, but I think this is a good way to leave it.”
