Jackson Memorial downs Lawrence in CJ3 final to win first sectional title in 14 years

After dropping a series of tough losses to close the regular season third-seeded Jackson Memorial wasn’t exactly considered by many to be a favorite to win the Central, Group 3 bracket. You wouldn’t have been able to tell that though by the Jaguars’ play in the tournament. Jackson Memorial kept their surprising run going and made school history by defeating fifth-seeded Lawrence 4-1 at home to claim the Central, Group 3 championship. The title was the Jaguars’ third overall, and its first in 13 years.
“I’m so happy for them,” said Sean Bayha, the head coach of the Jaguars. ” What we’ve gone through this season, the road we’ve traveled has been winding. We’ve lost some players along the way with injuries, and we’ve had to fight every step of the way. Today was the culmination of all the hard work that they’ve put in.”
The conventional wisdom heading into the sectional final was that the Jaguars (10-10-1) would once again have to rely on their standout veteran goalkeeper Gianna Berkley. It didn’t play out that way though, as the Jaguars’ midfield and defensive efforts made it a comfortable opening half for Berkley while the team’s offense set the tone of the match
Eight minutes into the game, Jackson Memorial’s leading scorer Ella Cooke took advantage of a rebound off Lawrence’s goalkeeper and buried an opening goal. About three minutes later, Zia Gould headed in a corner from Gould to make it a 2-0 game. Faith Moroney added onto the lead by converting a goal off another corner by Cooke with 1:30 left in the half.
Byaha admitted that set pieces hadn’t exactly been a source of success in games this season, but the team stayed on them in practice, which eventually helped them take advantage of them when they needed it most.
“We’ve worked our butts off in the summer and in practices all year long,” Cooke said “We worked for this moment and we really, really, wanted this win. I think we distributed really well today and that helped us find the back of the net.”
Despite her small stature, Cooke was a major thorn in the side of Lawrence’s defense and helped her team maintain possession for much of the opening half. The sophomore. leads her team in both goals (9) and assists (7).
“(Cooke’s) been amazing for us all season, said Bayha. “She’s always the primary focus of the other team with them looking to shut her down. She knows she’s gonna get bodied around by the bigger girls, but you can’t measure the amount of heart she has. She just finds a way. She finds the openings and the gaps and she’s a very smart, very creative player.”
Lila Martinez added a cherry on top by scoring for Jackson Memorial with about four minutes remaining in the second half.
The championship win marks an impressive turnaround for the Jaguars as the team opened the season 0-3 and closed the regular season losing five of its last six. So far Jackson Memorial has outscored its playoff opposition 10-2, with a first round shutout over Ewing and a semis penalty shootout win over last year’s champions Brick Memorial.
“It was really hard,” Cooke said of her team’s regular season struggles. “We fought every game and while our record may not show it we always really wanted (the sectional title).”
Bayha also spoke highly of his team’s defense, for both their performance in the final and their efforts throughout the year.
“The strength of our team has been goalkeeping and the back line. We’ve leaned on them all year,” said Bayha. “Berkely in the net has been super solid. Harmony Glover, you could make an argument she’s the MVP of this team for what she does as a sweeper. Our senior captain Sammy Ifantis set the tone on and off the field and our outside backs Abby Wisniewski, Victoria Tandari and Ashley Alu all did a solid job. They shut down a quality offensive team in Lawrence.”
Despite falling behind 3-0 in the opening half, Lawrence (13-9) showed grit in the final 40 minutes of play. The Cardinals saw success in the possesion battle in the second half, and Caelynn LeFlammed put her team on the scoreboard with a goal towards the half’s midpoint. Similar to the Jaguars, Lawrence had to persevere through a series of rough patches in the regular season. The Cardinals made the final off a 2-1 upset over top-seeded Hopewell Valley.
“I’m really proud of this coach said Emily Palumbo, the coach of Lawrence. We’ve experienced injuries and illnesses and we’ve played with one sub throughout this tournament. The fact that we made a sectional final is a tribute to how hard they’ve worked. They have nothing to be ashamed of.”
The Jaguars will take on Shawnee next Monday with a spot in the Group 3 championship on the line. Bayha said that while his team will be making sure to enjoy the unexpected success they’ve had, they’ll also be looking to make the most out of the coming opportunity.
“We’re gonna enjoy today since I don’t think anyone had us winning this bracket,” Bayha said. Whatever the next game is, it is, we’ll do our best against whoever we play. Obviously we haven’t been this far in 14 years, so we’d like to take advantage of it. We’re only two wins away, so we’ll give it our best shot.
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