GLEN ROCK – The lacrosse ball sat on top of the trainer’s box waiting for its new owner to finish making history and come pick it up.
When Maggie Egan did, it turned out she wasn’t even that into it.
Behind three goals and nine assists from Egan and six goals from McGara DeWan, fifth-seeded Glen Rock pulled away from No. 12 Bergen Tech in the second half Wednesday to earn an 18-9 victory in the opening round of the Bergen County girls lacrosse tournament.
Egan’s nine assists represent a program record for most in a game and her 12 points tied a team mark. She also scored her 100th career goal six minutes in, and that ball was placed on top of the trainer’s box for safe keeping.
But it wasn’t until Glen Rock coach Taryn Tabano tossed the ball to Egan five minutes after the game that she remembered it had been put aside. And even then, the senior was more concerned about the final score than the milestone or records.
“I’m not really all about keeping stats,” Egan said. “I didn’t even know what any of the records were. It’s good to have them. But I’m all about how the team played and did we win.”
Glen Rock (7-5) won its fourth straight game. But it didn’t come easy.
The Panthers opened up leads of 4-1, 6-3 and 11-7 but didn’t pull away from the Knights until the final eight minutes, when they scored seven unanswered goals.
Egan assisted on all but two of those goals, finding DeWan and Alex Beilman in front of the crease twice each and closing her record-setting day with another centering pass to Catherine Tatigian.
Beilman finished with four goals for Glen Rock and Fiona McDonald had three.
“She’s been such a workhorse for us since her freshman year,” Tabano said of Egan. “She’s the type of player who will perform wherever we need her to perform in order to win.”
This time Glen Rock needed her to score and assist. But it also needed her and her teammates to perform on defense, where the game ultimately was won.
After Bergen Tech pulled to within 11-9 on sophomore midfielder Sydney Scherer’s fourth goal of the game, Glen Rock shut out the Knights for the final 16 minutes.
Defenders Katie Burke, McKenzie Dill and Meghan Donohue combined with the midfield to keep Bergen Tech away from the net with quick double teams and active sticks. Even when the Knights got off a shot, Glen Rock senior goalie Claire Gallo (eight saves) was in position to stop it.
“We were clicking really well together in the end,” Gallo said. “We knew that if we pushed them far away from the net, it was going to be tough for them to score.”
On this day, no one could say the same for Egan.
