LIVINGSTON- Montclair Kimberley Academy's Kristen Dawes wears a special signature charm on a necklace that says simply ‘Coach’ but it’s more than just a familiar word to the Cougars' second-year head mentor.
Instead it’s a close reminder of her father's continued presence. The late, great MKA boys lacrosse coach Noll Klank passed away at the age of 51 back in April of 2003, just as a new high school lacrosse season was preparing to face off.
Kristen, a 1995 MKA graduate, was a young 20-something coach on the rise for Kent Place at the time of her dad’s sudden passing; yet 23 years later his spirit lives on in every lacrosse contest she is a part of.
Her dad was a fierce competitor and terrific strategist who knew all about making the right adjustments to increase his Cougar laxmen’s chances of victory.
In the case of his daughter’s current-day team some key adjustments made in an attempt to improve one's fortunes following a previous setback with the same opponent paid huge dividends in Saturday’s Essex County Tournament final.
Second-seeded MKA controlled tempo with its winning formula which included dominating draws and playing a suffocating team defense while riding,its ability to own the time of possession in an impressive 8-4 victory over top-seeded and 2-time defending champion Glen Ridge for the Cougars’ first-ever ECT title on an overcast Saturday morning at Livingston’s Allen. ‘Jake’ Jacobson Memorial Field.
“My dad’s motto was ‘Cross the line’ and we say, ‘No regrets when you cross that line and it’s all business,’" said Dawes. "We live with that philosophy every game. My sister (Tracy) made the necklace for me with his signature ‘coach’ which stays close to my heart and is with me every game.”
With the spirit of her late dad ever present Dawes along with her coaching staff and the entire MKA team came together to produced a cohesive and well-conceived performance of near perfection in many areas, and particularly on defense, where the Cougars did a yeoman's job incontaining Glen Ridge stars Addison Townson and Grace Sutton.
“(Sophomore) Biko McNeil did a great job on Addie (Townson) and we all worked together to execute our game plan perfectly today,” said senior defender Grace Fitzgerald, who worked alongside McNeil, senior Julia Flocco and juniors Olivia Davis and Caroline Cuneo to help spearhead the stingy defense in front of the very reliable senior goalie Ella Freeman. “After our loss to them (11-8 on April 6) earlier this season we watched a lot of film and found different things we knew we had to correct.
“A big thing defensively for us was handling the pick and rolls and just working together to stop their 2-man. Biko has a lot of grit and did really good job on Addie, while (freshman) Sloane (Dawes) was great on the draws.
“And, with no shot clock once it got late and we had the lead we looked to keep long possessions and everyone just did their part.”
Sloane Dawes, the daughter of the head coach, combined with junior Bebe Scuorzo to win most of the draws.
“We switched things up a little today buying in on the draw stick,” said Coach Dawes. “Sloane on the draw and Bebe collecting in the circle worked together really well as a team and they were able to control the ball.
“We knew that whoever won the possession battle would help their team maintain momentum.“We were ready to play today and I’m so proud of our entire team and how they executed.”
Senior Shea Murphy had given MKA a 1-0 lead with 8:58 left in the first quarter before Paige McCormack and Olivia Torrisi scored for the Ridgers who took an early 2-1 lead.
