First-half corners led to goals by Julie Guempel and Hillary Smith, each off beautiful assists from fellow forward Emily Leahy, to spur Morristown-Beard to a 2-0 victory over The Montclair Kimberley Academy for the Prep B championship this past Sunday on a gorgeous early November afternoon.

MKA turned its attention to NJSIAA North 1, Group 1 State tournament action on Tuesday, and the seventh-seeded Cougars bested second-seeded North Warren, 2-1.

Mallory McDonagh and Lacey Silvano erased a 1-0 deficit with second-half goals in Warren County. Paige Barrett assisted on McDonagh’s tally and McDonagh fed Silvano for the game-winner.

MKA will meet third-seeded Mountain Lakes in the sectional semis tomorrow in Mountain Lakes at 2 p.m. The sectional final is slated for Monday, Nov. 10. The top seed in North 1, Group 1 is Pompton Lakes.

When it came to the 2008 trio of field hockey contests between Mo-Beard and the Cougars, the former held a 2-0-1 edge, and, as per usual, corners were always key.

"I thought we were pretty even with Mo-Beard in Sunday’s Prep B final, and the game was well fought between the 25’s," MKA head coach Injoo Han said. "I’ll give them credit because they run a real good offensive corner and both their goals were off penalty corners.

"The last time we played them (5-0 Mo-Beard win on Oct. 25 in Montclair) they scored four of their five goals off corners and we knew we had to work on that in practice this past week and we did. But it’s awfully hard to dig out of a 2-0 deficit.

"I’m happy with the effort my girls gave and I think we’ll benefit greatly from the experience of playing in a Prep tournament championship game like this because nine of our 11 starters are either sophomores or juniors, so we feel the future is very bright."

Mo-Beard coach Kim Babbitt echoed the importance of corners in the Prep final.

"Corners are one of those elusive aspects of the game where you might be told you’re supposed to score every time you have one, but you realize that’s simply not realistic," said Babbit. "We get a lot of corners, but we hadn’t made them come to fruition enough earlier in the season.

"The whole year we kept training on corners and the girls kept working hard at them and just like that we’ve been coming through in big spots and that’s awesome when you see it happen like today.

Guempel’s goal at 14:20 from about 12 yards out and then Smith’s at 5:51 from closer in accounted for the two first-half goals which would ultimately stand up big.

The Crimson held a 15-9 edge in offensive corners and a 17-11 advantage in shots in coming away with the Prep B crown. MKA did play well in staying neck-and-neck with Mo-Beard between the 25-yard lines throughout the contest.

MKA was led by its speedy tandem of sophomore center forward Kerry Fusco and junior right wing McDonagh, a nice combination in transition. Barrett, a senior captain, and sophomore sweeper Katie Arena, who anchors the defense for the Cougars, also shined.

More than anything, though, in the Prep B final, it was Mo-Beard’s efficiency on corners, and its ability to put forth a potent first half to ignite the team early on.

MKA was slated to host Boonton yesterday in its regular-season final. The Bombers edged the Cougars, 2-1, in their first meeting on Oct. 1.

The Cougars’ most recent regular-season contest was at Mountain Lakes last Thursday in a heartbreaking, 1-0 MKA loss. The Lakers’ Leslye Kang scored off a Jordan Renna pass with 46 seconds left in regulation for the game’s only goal.

MKA junior goalie Devon Barrett had 10 saves in a fine effort against ML. She had five saves against Mo-Beard in the prep final. Devon, who overcame a nagging ankle injury to return to action recently, is the younger sister of Paige.

"We have a good group of girls with a lot of potential for the present and the future," said Han. "We’re certainly looking to finish this season with some more strong efforts."