WEST DEPTFORD – Juliet Walls found the person she was looking for within a short distance.

After she sent the golden ball that sent the Haddenfield Memorial High School Women's Football Team to the conference finals, the senior bear hugged her best friend Sarah Smith, and when the Dawg pile started, the two fell to the ground.

The Bulldawgs recovered from a two-goal lag, won 3-2 in double overtime, and defeated their fiercest opponent on the grass of the Eagles' home court in the South Jersey Group 2 semifinal on Tuesday. West Deptford.

"We don't think we will have a chance to play together again, but we did it. It's an incredible feeling," Walls said. "We are best friends and we will always know each other. It's a wonderful feeling. She was the first person I went to (to celebrate the goal) and we fell to the ground. It couldn't be better."

There are many factors that have contributed to one of the most dramatic comebacks in the history of the Haddenfield Project, but head coach Lori Quintavalle said that one of them stood out.

"Senior leadership, period," Quintavalle said. "Sara Smith has been absent for the entire season, and she basically said with Juliet at halftime,'It's not over yet.' You can see their eyes and the whole team accepted.

"Two senior captains led the way. Sarah came out and finished the first one.... For Juliet, winning the game is just icing on the cake."

Both Walls and Smith stated that what they said at halftime was not the kind of exciting words, but a more comforting tone to get the team back on track.

"We just told them this might be our last game and we have to fight for each other," Walls said. "We have been trying to build each other. This is a bad kick, not "oh no", but "you have the next one." "We never bow our heads."

Smith added: "We knew we could play better, and that's what we told them at halftime, and we showed this in the second half."

Just as her 10,000-watt smile can light up a room, Smith's performance has also injected new vitality into the Haddenfield team.

Smith shouldn't be on the court at all this season. The speed racer tore his knee meniscus during the spring and tried to overcome it in the preseason, but everything was shut down.

However, the doctor recently approved her game and she played for the first time on her birthday as Haddenfield defeated Harden Heights 1-0 on November 5.

Smith said that conditioning is the hardest thing for her to return. She was limited to a few minutes in the first game, and the game time against West Depford increased a bit.

"We restricted her time outside, she was free to run and knew she could come out," Quintavale said. "Her body has just started to get used to moving again. As you can see, her speed, vision, and persistence with that girl have not given up."

Smith had several good scoring opportunities throughout the game. With 25 minutes left in the game, she used her first goal of the season to promote Haddenfield's comeback.

"It's just a surreal feeling to score goals here," Smith said. "I really didn't intend to come back, but then the situation changed. It was very difficult. I felt nervous after the first five minutes of the first game. I played more time in this game. It feels better. It's coming."

When attending the Peru National U-17 team training camp last week, Alison Teich missed Haddenfield's first two playoff games. She rejoined the club and evened the score less than six minutes later. This is her team-high 16th time this season.

Although Smith and Thiech had several scoring opportunities in overtime, Walls scored the winning goal, completed Lilah Jakovini's flick pass, and scored the golden goal.

Smith said that her best friend survived at a critical moment, and she was not surprised.

"This is what she does, she always shows up when we need her most," Smith said.

Haddenfield (13-7-1) played the best football at the most important time. The third-seeded Harden team has won eight of the past nine games and will now host Sina Minson in the conference finals on Friday to win three consecutive championships.

"I think we just gained confidence and are more comfortable in our position," Quintavalle said of a strong home stretch. "Our start to the season is really difficult. We often play away against very tough teams and often on the grass, but we have confidence in each other... If we don't have those hard games,... .We will not be prepared for this."

Walls said she is looking forward to playing the championship game on the fast man-made field in Haddenfield, where Burdogs is 9-1 this season.

"We love our territory," she said. "We are very happy to go home."

West Deptford (17-5-1)'s seven-game winning streak was broken, taking a 2-0 lead into the halftime with goals from Remi Newcomb and Lexy Yeager.

In another South Jersey Group 2 game:

Cinnaminson 3, Sterling 2 (OT): After seeing the two-goal lead disappear, the Pirates defeated the top seed Silver Cavaliers in double overtime to enter the conference finals. Emma Fuegel scored two goals, and Katie Ambos created the third score.

After Faith Dickson reduced the score to 2-1 early in the second half, Kailey Sheehan equalized the score for Sterling.

Shalik 2, Harden Twp. 0: In the rematch of last season's conference finals, the Cougars retaliated with Kelly Jackson and Molly Wood with two goals in the second half and won the championship trip.  

Maresa Savarese and Isabella DeVoe recorded helpers, and Carly Hayman made seven saves without conceding the ball.

Pennsville 1, Pitman 0 (PKs): The fifth-seeded Eagles eliminated the top-seeded Panthers and advanced in a penalty shootout.

After a 100-minute football match failed to produce a victory, Pensville won the deciding game, winning 4-3.

Point Pleasant Boro 4, Palmyra 3: The top-seeded Panthers lost to the fourth seed in the penalty shoot-out, and their season is over. Palmyra ended 17-5.

Shore 4, Maple Shade 0: The third-seeded Wildcats failed to keep up with the home team in the semifinal loss. Maple Shade ended the season with 11-6-1.

Continental 2, Ocean City 1 (PK): The fifth-seeded Mustang eliminated the defending group of 3 champions and the No. 1 Raiders and won on a penalty kick.

The two teams exchanged goals in terms of rules, Ocean City's Summer Remit and mainland's Julia Keys scored.

Remet ended her incredible career with 131 goals, including 62 goals this season.

Lacey Twp. 3. Clearview 2: The season for the second-seeded Trail Blazers is over. The team wasted a two-goal lead in the second half and lost to the third seed.

Adriana Careless and Ava Costello scored in the first half of Clearview, who ended the season 14-6-1.

Toms River North 3, Kingsway 0: The fifth-seeded Dragons lost three goals in the second half and were bounced off the game by the top-seeded Mariners.

Kingsway ended the season 12-6-2, and Toms River North will host No. 11 seed Gloucester County Tech in Friday's championship game.

More: Riley and Gloucester Technologies thrive by doing things the hard way

Rancocas Valley 4, East Brunswick 1: Kennedy Garcia contributed all of the Red Devils' performance in this victory and helped the team enter the championship battle.

Garcia scored two goals per half, increasing her season's total number of goals to 21 goals.

Leah Howe, Erin Lally and Nicole Everard each have one to help Rancocas Valley, who will go to the top-seeded freehold town for Friday's championship game.

Bishop Eustace 2, Holy Cross 1 (PKs): The Crusaders advanced with a 4-2 penalty shootout victory.

The two teams were tied 1-1 by the rules.

Bishop Eustace will face the second-seeded Rutgers Reserves in the conference finals on Friday.

Tom McGurk is a regional sports reporter for Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for more than 30 years. If you have a sports story you need to tell, please call (856) 486-2420 or send an email to tmcgurk@gannett.com to contact him. Follow him on Twitter @McGurkSports. Help support local news through digital subscriptions.