Moorestown Girls Lacrosse Seeks Another TOC Title

Head coach Deanna Knobloch and the rest of her coaching staff came into this lacrosse season with a lot of uncertainty after losing eight starters at the end of last year, following a 26-0 season that ended with a state championship. 

At 24-0, with the Group 3 state title under their belt and one win away from yet another state championship, it's safe to say these girls have erased any doubts.

"I give all the credit to the senior class this year," said Knobloch.

Though they had big shoes to fill, the coach said her team never let the program's championship pedigree become an impediment to their own success.

"We haven't really talked about, 'This is what we've done in the past,'" she said. "It's about the next game. We don't put any pressure on ourselves."

Moorestown, ranked No. 1 in the state by The Star-Ledger, continued its dominant run by defeating Oak Knoll in the Tournament of Champions (TOC) semifinal Wednesday, the team's 50th consecutive victory, which earned them their third consecutive trip to the TOC final. 

Moorestown heads into Saturday's game against archrival Shawnee with a high level of confidence. But they're certainly not taking their opponent lightly.

No team has tested Moorestown more over the last few years. Shawnee defeated Moorestown in the Tournament of Champions final three years ago and gave the girls their closest game of the season this year, a hard-fought 8-4 victory for the Quakers earlier this month.

"We know if we play our game, we have the potential to win it all," said Knobloch, adding that her team has plenty of respect for Shawnee.

The team has several leaders. In particular, Knobloch will look to junior Marie McCool, the Quakers' leading scorer, and senior Megan Kelly, the team's defensive specialist, to spur the team to victory.

The Quakers will take on Shawnee at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Kean University. 

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