MOORESTOWN, N.J. — It was not a game of two halves.

More like a game of two segments — one 54 minutes in length, and the other a mere six minutes.

But it was the six-minute segment at the end of regulation that the Moorestown girls’ lacrosse team absolutely dominated on the way to a 9-8 win over Ellicott City Mount Hebron (Md.). It was the Quakers’ first win in this four-year-old rivalry that had about a thousand onlookers coming to Bridgeboro Road.

The visiting Vikings had taken an 8-5 lead in the 54th minute of play when Julianne Giles stuck in a free-position goal. The goal was the culmination of an extended series of play which saw Hebron not quite stalling, but running their vaunted spread-to-score offense, trying to make the opposition chase.

As it turned out, the goal was costly, since Moorestown won the next five draws, allowing the Vikings almost no possession the last six minutes of play. That led to Alyssa Ogle’s pick-and-curl goal with 11.9 seconds remaining to send the Quaker sideline into absolute delirium.

“That’s what happens when you have just one senior,” said Mount Hebron head coach Brooke Kuhl-McClelland. “When we were up three, you hopefully can hold onto the ball and manage the game well.”

That being said, it was still the Quakers’ task to make the necessary plays on offense. That Moorestown completed its comeback was a testament to their ability to think their way through problems.

Make that the one big problem on the afternoon — Hebron goalie Megan Savage. She and Moorestown goalie Bridget Bianco were outstanding in the game, particularly in the second half, where only the clearest and most open chances were going in.

Only in the final six minutes, Moorestown was creating its chances and finishing them.

“I don’t think it was what Mount Hebron was doing; it was us,” said Moorestown junior attacker Bridget Callahan, whose upper-90 goal in the 56th minute brought the Quakers to within one. “We had so much motivation to want to dominate them.”

“My thoughts were how easily we could have lost this game, but those last six minutes were a testament to the Moorestown girls and it was a real gut check,” Moorestown head coach Deanna Knobloch. “I’m so happy for them; this rivalry has been such a hurdle for them.”

At the defensive end, however, the Quakers got a tremendous boost of confidence from Bianco, a freshman who won the starting job based not only on practice, but her play in a loss to Alexandria St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes (Md.) two weeks ago.

“Goalies,” Knobloch said, “are a different breed. And Bridget is one of those players.”

Bianco says that her recent development in the crease has been as a result of practice rather than goalie camps or borrowing the style of someone else.

“We just wanted to get the job done,” she said.

Mount Hebron (9-4) 5 – 3 — 8
Moorestown (13-1) 4 – 5 — 9
Goals — MH: Julianne Giles 3, Ashley Bruns 2, Monica Zabel 2, Meghan Schauf; M: Annie McGinley 3, Alyssa Ogle 2, Bridget Callahan 2, Virginia Weber 2. Assists — MH: Zabel 2, Bruns, Schauf; M: Winnie Call 2; Callahan.
Shots — MH: 19; M: 21. Saves — MH: Megan Savage 12; M: Bridget Bianco 11.

THE SERIES
2005 — Mount Hebron 11, Moorestown 5
2006 — Mount Hebron 10, Moorestown 8
2007 — Mount Hebron 11, Moorestown 7
2008 — Moorestown 9, Mount Hebron 8