A valiant effort came up short for the Morristown-Beard girls on Wednesday.
Despite taking the lead on two separate occasions, and being out-shot by a 44-20 margin, fourth-seeded Morristown-Beard saw its season come to an end in overtime in a 4-3 loss to top-ranked Princeton Day in the state semifinals at Codey Arena.
It marked the second-consecutive year that Morristown-Beard’s season ended in overtime in the semifinals. Last year, it was upset, 2-1, by eventual state champion Pingry in the extra session.
This time around, the Crimson took a 2-1 lead going into the third period thanks to goals from Julie Jasaitis and Emma Fuchs in the second. But Princeton Day’s Grace Ulrich tied it 1:32 into the third on a power play goal.
The Crimson responded just over a minute later, when Jasaitis’ snipe gave her team the lead again, which it held until the final minutes. Princeton Day’s Della Gilligan tied it with 3:10 to go, before Brynn Dandy buried the game-winner 1:37 into overtime to send Princeton Day to its first state final since 2022.
Morristown-Beard goalie Hannah Mortazavi made 40 saves in the game, giving her team a chance to move on. It marked the final game for standout forward Julie Jasaitis, who had two goals and an assist in this one to cap her career with 113 points.
The team graduates just four seniors, including Jasaitis, and will return much of its core from this year’s squad which includes junior Reid Snyder, sophomore Keira Walsifer, junior Sylie Sawale, and freshman Emma Fuchs, to go along with Mortazavi, a junior goalie. So, the future appears to be very bright for the Crimson, which finished with a 10-5-2 record.
Princeton Day will take on second-seeded Immaculate Heart in the state final on Monday at 7:45 p.m. at Prudential Center.
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Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 