WILDWOOD – Last season, Mackenzie Ikeda scored the game-winning goal to propel Westminster to a one-goal victory over Lafayette.
On Saturday, now wearing the gold and black uniform of Lafayette, Ikeda assisted on the game-winning goal to defeat her former team, Westminster.
Ikeda produced a brilliant assist in the opening minute, then provided outstanding stick work and penalty corner defense, as Lafayette held off Westminster 2-1 to win the Lafayette Field Hockey Tournament championship at Lafayette High.
“I have a lot of respect for (Westminster), but I was motivated, not in a revenge kind of way, but I kind of wanted to show what I could do,” said Ikeda, a junior.
Lafayette (3-0), which received two goals from senior Norah Martin, earned the championship plaque from its annual tournament for the first time since 2021.
“It’s huge. This has been a goal of ours for the past few years,” Lafayette coach Meghan Conroy said. “This will set a strong tone for our season.”
Lafayette set the tone from the opening whistle when junior Faustina Sala found Ikeda streaking down the right side. Ikeda dribbled through and around defenders, entered the circle, and centered a pass that Martin tapped into the vacant cage 43 seconds into the game.
“Mackenzie is so good at taking the ball, carrying it down the field, and slipping it into the circle from the end line. I was just lucky to be there to tip it in,” Martin said.
Just over a minute later, Ikeda intercepted a pass and delivered a perfectly-paced ball to junior Lucy Carroll, who sent it into the circle for Martin to smack into the cage to give Lafayette a lightning-quick, 2-0 lead just 2 minutes 4 seconds into the game.
“Our word has been ‘compete,’ which means setting the tone from the start,” Conroy said. “We want to begin the game with speed and energy and work our way from there.”
Westminster made tactical adjustments and began to swing momentum in its favor. The Wildcats earned eight penalty corners but could not find the back of the net, as the masked and speedy Ikeda flew out to the ball carrier to hurry the process.
When the ball avoided Ikeda, it either found the pads of Lafayette goalie Nadia Grice or the alert stick of Sala, who made a tremendous defensive save on a reverse shot by senior Caroline Campbell to keep Westminster off the scoreboard.
Stellar midfield and defensive play continued for Lafayette, but in the final two minutes of regulation, Westminster sophomore Leona Potsou sent a pass through the circle that found its way through bodies and into the cage to slice the deficit to 2-1.
Westminster kept charging, and with less than 30 seconds remaining, Grice stretched out her left pad and made an incredible save on a blast from Campbell that was destined for corner of the cage.
As the ball was cleared into the Lafayette offensive zone and the seconds ticked away, Grice removed her mask and leapt in the air while Ikeda and Martin raised their arms in celebration.
“It’s an amazing feeling. Such an adrenaline rush,” Martin said.
Lafayette, which finished with a 6-12 record in 2024, has not compiled consecutive winning seasons since the 2020 and ’21 campaigns. Last year, the Lancers went 15-6 and advanced to the state quarterfinals with an upset of Kirkwood, a team they lost to during the regular season.
This year, Lafayette is off to a 3-0 start, its best start in five years.
“It’s been amazing. We can really link it all to our coaches and our team mentality,” Martin said. “We focus on each other and playing for each other, and that’s been our focus, playing for our teammates.”
Last year, the Lafayette offense was powered by Emily Williams, who scored 29 goals and added 19 assists, figuring in on two-thirds of the Lancers’ goals. Williams was recovering from injury during the Lafayette Tournament and did not play, so Martin and Ikeda took it upon themselves to provide the scoring punch, combining for seven goals.
Martin scored the game-winning goals against Westminster and Edwardsville. Ikeda scored the game-winner against Summit, the team that knocked Lafayette out of the tournament the previous two seasons.
“We’ve all become really close friends, we’ve done lots of team bonding and we’ve learned to work with each other,” Martin said.
And Ikeda, whose air dribbling ability, elimination skills and passing acumen were on full display Saturday, has fit in perfectly with a Lafayette team ready to continue its ascension into the upper echelon of field hockey powers.
“The team has been super-welcoming and we all play for each other. It’s been great,” Ikeda said.
For a photo gallery from this game, visit: https://benvessa.smugmug.com/Field-Hockey/2026-Season/Lafayette-vs-Westminster-8-29-26