Young team still is in the hunt for a playoff spot
ERMA – The Caper Tiger girls put on a clinic in scoring last week when the lacrosse team hosted visiting St. Joseph of Hammonton.
The Lower Cape May Regional High School girls put up 23 goals against the overpowered visitors.
St. Joseph’s managed 13 goals, but all came as Caper Tiger coach JoAnn McLaughlin began to substitute heavily after going up 10-1 early in the game.
Nora Shoffler led her teammates with seven goals and four assists. Olivia Lewis was close behind with five goals and two assists.
Brooke Robinson had three goals and two assists and Ainsley Reed had three. Mia Gilbert, Maddie Sharp, Liz McHugh, Reilly State and Maddie Gilbert had a goal each.
Caper Tiger senior goalie Sophia Vitelli made 13 saves.
Shoffler and Reed, a pair of juniors who lead the attack, have 56 and 53 goals, respectively through the game with St. Joseph. Reed is the points leader with 68 courtesy of her 15 assists through the St. Joseph game. Shoffler had 11 assists.
Lewis, a senior, had 52 points split almost evenly between goals (24) and assists (28). Sophomore Greta Shepanski had 18 goals; Robinson, another sophomore, had 14 goals, as did senior Maddie Gilbert.
Giordana Raymond, a junior, had a team-leading 35 ground balls and the most forced turnovers with 33.
Shoffler had 77 draw controls, a Caper Tiger best. Robinson had 40, Shepanski 30 and Reed 29.
Beating St. Joseph gave the Caper Tigers their ninth win of the season. They were 4-6 in the tough American Division.
As of midweek last week, they remained in the playoff hunt, ranked 15th in Power Points in South Jersey Group I. The top 16 teams make the playoffs. Last year the girls were the No. 11 seed in the Group I sectional and upset No. 6 seed Cinnaminson 12-9 in the opening round before falling to No. 3 Madison in the quarterfinals.
As coach McLaughlin noted early in the season, Lower Cape May graduated a lot of seniors from the 2024 team and came into the 2025 season with only one returning starter on defense – Vitelli, the goalie. Vitelli has started all 16 games and has made 202 saves.
Close game with Middle Township
The Caper Tigers lost 11-7 to Middle Township (15-2) May 15, making their season record 9-8.
Shepanski had three goals and Shoffler two. Reed and Maddie Gilbert had one each. Vitelli had nine saves.
By DAVID NAHAN/Cape May Star and Wave
