Following a tough start with Kent Place on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, some defensive adjustments resulted in Oak Knoll’s comeback win and seventh straight victory in the Prep A Championship. Early in the game, Oak Knoll was trailing 4-0 but rallied back to hold Kent Place scoreless for most of the first half. A nail-biting second half ultimately resulted in a hard-fought 9-8 win for the Royals.

“Overall, the team fought hard and committed to make necessary adjustments to find the win,” said Coach Gianna Sgroi. “They have been through a lot of ups and downs in previous games this season, and coming off a tough loss against Summit in the UCT Final last Saturday, so they used that as a springboard to help them stay focused and determined in every moment of the game. They played as a unit from defense through offense and secured our 7th straight prep championship.”

Betsy Burton ’25 and Sophia Loschert ’24 put up key points and won key draw controls in critical moments of the game. Zoe Harmaty ’25 also netted three in a tight game where every goal counted. Read this play-by-play recap on NJ.com.

“It felt really good to win this game,” said Loschert. “We knew that the Prep A Division Championship is always a good game, and having a new opponent in the finals this year really sparked energy and motivation for the team to win. Coming off of a county final loss, being able to play for another trophy was special to us. We all worked together and cohesively, which led to finding the goals when we really needed them.”

Harmaty calls Kent Place a great team and acknowledges that they came in strong — firing successful shots from the start. “Yet, we maintained our composure, and our offense started capitalizing on our team’s stellar defensive work,” she stated. “We found success through forced turnovers, fast breaks, and patient inside passes and finishing with strong shots. I think our comeback is a testament to our team’s resilience and unified approach to sticking to our game plan, and our coaches believing in us.”

The Royals have four more regular-season games. Following Memorial Day, they will begin a state tournament run and hope to reach the state final on June 6.