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Moorestown girls to defend Tournament of Champions lacrosse title against top-seeded Oak Knoll

Oak Knoll has five players with more than 40 goals this year, and Katie Duttenhofer leads the Royals with 87.

Moorestown celebrates after beating Mendham in the Group 3 championship.
Moorestown celebrates after beating Mendham in the Group 3 championship.Read moreELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer

The Moorestown girls’ lacrosse team aims to defend its Tournament of Champions title as it plays top-seeded Oak Knoll in the final on Saturday at Kean University.

The Quakers captured their ninth consecutive Group 3 sectional title with a dominating 17-3 win over Ocean City then repeated as Group 3 champions after fending off Mendham, 9-8, in the final last Saturday.

Moorestown (19-3) saw a familiar face in the semifinal round of the Tournament of Champions. Ridgewood, which the Quakers beat in last year’s TOC final, had snapped Moorestown’s 25-game winning streak dating back to last season, handing them a loss for the first time in more than a year on April 24. This TOC game was different as the Quakers hung on for an 11-10 win.

Ashley Nutt finished with three goals and three assists in that game for Moorestown. Kayla Frank had three assists, and Janey Galski had three goals for the Quakers.

The Oak Knoll Royals come in at 23-2 overall after downing No. 4 seed Haddonfield, 19-9, in the semifinals. This is the second finals appearance for Oak Knoll in the last three years, with its last title coming in 2015.

Before falling behind, 8-2, in its April loss to Ridgewood, Moorestown had never trailed at halftime during its 10-0 start. Since then, the team is 9-3 and has had a lead of nine or more goals at the break five times. The Quakers are 14-1 when holding teams to less than 10 goals this year.

Oak Knoll has five players with more than 40 goals this year, and Katie Duttenhofer leads the Royals with 87. She has had three games with eight goals and has only been held to a single goal three times. Oak Knoll has been held to fewer than 10 goals just once, when it lost to Ridgewood, 14-8, on April 6.