Mendham girls lacrosse upends Sparta, earns first title since 2019

MENDHAM — Lexi Alofs can barely remember when draw controls were not part of her game. She started taking the draw to jump-start play in third grade with Steps Lacrosse, alongside teammates like Cristiana Laracca and Shea Shoulberg.

>Not much has changed. Those same girls were at her side as Alofs won nearly every draw control as Mendham defeated Sparta, 17-6, to win the NJSIAA Group 2 North trophy.

>The top-seeded Minutemen move on to the overall Group 2 final at 1:30 p.m. on June 13 at The College of New Jersey.

class="exclude-from-newsgate">The Minutemen will learn their opponent on Tuesday, after the rest of the sectional finals are played. This game was moved up due to Mendham's prom.

>"The faith they have in me, and how they support me helps my confidence," Vanderbilt commit Alofs said of her teammates. "How I can self-draw, that comes from the circle people, Amelia (Eichman) and Grace (Monahan). I love it. It's a beautiful part of the sport, and it can change so much."

class="related-link">More: Meet the Morris/Sussex lacrosse teams playing for trophies

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>Alofs also had a hat trick in the sectional final, with her third goal coming off Shoulberg's 200th career assist 44 seconds before halftime. Monahan, a Bucknell signee, led the Minutemen (16-5) with five goals and four assists. Florida-bound Eichman also scored five goals.

>Junior attack Joey Roque scored three of Sparta's goals, with two others by senior Moira Sweeney.

>Mendham had also defeated the Spartans (16-3), 18-0, in a Stars & Stripes regular-season crossover on April 7.

>"It was unfortunate to end it this way," Spartans coach Jack Bushey said. "The season they had, they should be proud of themselves. They set the bar high for Sparta lacrosse."

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>Mendham coach Ali Cassera had a few important tasks after the final whistle.

>First, she had to take the trophy from new athletic director Jon Cantagallo-Rohm and present it to her exuberant players. Then, after a brief cheer and speech, Cassera reminded the Minutemen attending the prom on June 9 to text her photos.

>Then Cassera had to make a very important call to assistant coach and Women's Lacrosse League midfielder Ally Mastroianni. Sounding as devastated as she could, Cassera told Mastroianni's voicemail that she had bad news, before shouting, "Just kidding" as the players started cheering again.

>"That's why we coach, right? To instill that in these girls. It's very special," said Cassera, who won Group 2 North at Mendham as a West Essex senior in 2009. West Essex went on to defeat Hopewell Valley to take the overall title, a feat she's hoping her players repeat on Saturday.

>The Minutemen have not won a Group trophy since 2010.

>They have played in eight straight sectional finals, winning in 2019 and again on Monday. The Minutemen had lost to Sparta, 17-5, in last spring's Group 2 North final, after three straight losses to Summit in Group 2. The last time Mendham was in Group 3, the team lost to Mendham in 2021 – two years and the COVID pandemic after defeating the Cougars in Group 3 North.

>"Last year, it was a terrible feeling to lose, to come up short in this game," said Shoulberg, who has verbally committed to Notre Dame. "This year, we were really prepared. ... We really showed up today and had energy right off the bat. We started off the game like, 'Let's not let them touch the ball,' and Lexi did just that. We did not lose a draw control, and that really impacted the rhythm and the energy throughout the game."

>This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Mendham beats Sparta in Group 2 North girls lacrosse final