Since the start of the season, the Rumson- Fair Haven (RFH) girls lacrosse team has looked like the cream of the Shore Conference crop.

But, paper titles are one thing, and until they could get over the hump and win what has proven to be an elusive Shore Conference Tournament (SCT) title, the Bulldogs had plenty to prove. RFH had been to the SCT final the last three years, losing to Shore Regional each time. But Shore, which entered this season having won five SCT titles in a row, was knocked out by an undefeated Manasquan team in the semifinals last week.

With the defending champs out of the picture, it looked even more like the stars were aligned for RFH to finally win its first conference title. Only they had to get past an undefeatedTomsRiverNorth team first, and stymie the Shore’s top scorer, senior attack Tatum Coffey, in the process. That proved to be every bit as difficult as it sounded.

Coffey was brilliant in the first half, finding openings that only she could see, and sniping her way to a series of goals that allowed her team to keep pace with RFH. In fact, the fourth-seeded Mariners entered the second half tied with top-seeded RFH, 10-10, thanks in large part to Coffey’s exploits. But as much as Coffey’s impact on the field kept her team in the game, it was her departure from the game shortly before the first half ended that had the greatest impact.

Coffey was sidelined with six seconds to play in the first half after being called for a dangerous check. That meant that she would be on the sidelines for the first 2:54 of the second, giving RFH a chance to take control of the game. And that’s exactly what they did, scoring three goals with Coffey off the field, and adding two more before Toms River North could respond. Up 15-11, RFH was in control and cruised to a 20-12 victory.

Megan Douty started the onslaught, winning the second half face-off and rushing up the field before firing a shot to the top right corner of the net.

Chrissy Lushefski followed with a goal a little over two minutes later, which was followed by senior attack Abby Eastwood’s tally just 13 seconds later. At that point, Coffey returned to the field, but the damage was already done.

Eastwood scored all three of her goals within the first 10 minutes of the second half to spark RFH’s effort, and notched her 200th career point with an assist on an Emily Torcivia goal with just over a minute to play.

Torcivia, Lushefski and Charlotte Brodsky finished with four goals apiece to lead the Bulldogs.

The win put RFH back in the finals, only instead of facing its SCT nemesis from West Long Branch, it squared up against a Manasquan team it had already beaten twice (17-9 and 10-9 in overtime). The Bulldogs entered the SCT final (held on May 12 at Monmouth University) brimming with confidence and eager to erase the memories of their three previous defeats in the finals.

With junior Meg Douty leading the way with a three-goal, two-assist effort, RFH finally claimed its first SCT title, defeating Manasquan, 13-5, setting off a well-deserved celebration.

“It was a long time coming,” RFH coach Amy O’Keefe said following the win. “I knew we had a good team again [this year] and [in the past] we tended to fall under high-pressure situations. I always was blaming it on inexperience and not being in the hot seat a lot. We couldn’t use that anymore. We’ve been here.”

Early on, Manasquan looked poised to break the Bulldogs’ hearts once again, as Sarah Mahon scored at the 17:59 mark to give the Blue Warriors the early lead. But it didn’t last long, as RFH responded with a vengeance, scoring five straight goals (three from Torcivia and one apiece from Douty and Brodsky) to take a 5-1 lead.

Manasquan fought back with a pair of goals to get within 5-3, but Douty added her second goal with 3:26 to play in the first half to give the Bulldogs a 6-3 lead heading into the break.

The second half was all RFH as the Bulldogs controlled play throughout and cruised to the SCT title in dominating fashion.

Following the win, O’Keefe admitted that her team entered the game with the confidence of a champion.

“We know that we are the best team in the Shore Conference and we just had to get the job done,” she said. Now, the Bulldogs are attacking the state tournament with the same attitude as the top seed in the NJSIAA South II bracket. RFH faced off with Holmdel on May 14 and cruised to a 19-4 win, led by Douty (five goals) and Lushefski (three goals, five assists).

They were scheduled to face ninth-seeded Barnegat in the second round on Monday. Barnegat knocked off Monmouth Regional, 13-7, in the first round.

With a win on Monday, RFH would be back in action today against the winner of the Red Bank Catholic- Northern Burlington second-round game, also scheduled for Monday.

RBC, seeded fifth, beat Middle Township, 7-1, in the first round, led by Kylie McMenaman (three goals, one assist) and Zoey Kramer and Nikki Pineda (two goals apiece).

Meanwhile, in the South I tournament, Shore Regional, seeded third, beat Collingswood 15-4 in the first round, led by senior Alissa Watts’ seven-goal effort. That set up a match-up with Oak Knoll on Tuesday. With a win, Shore would be back in action tomorrow in the tournament semifinals.