This year’s Lax Day was more than just an eventful ritual for Ridgewood athletes of all ages. To add to the excitement, the Varsity girls lacrosse team ruptured Moorestown’s 88-game winning streak with a final score of 11-10. The game was neck and neck the entire time, taking the teams into overtime. In the first half, sophomore Alex Absey scored three goals and Claire Smesko scored two. Meanwhile, goalie Casey Cole, junior, made seven saves throughout the game. Sophomore Hannah Cermack scored the game-winning goal in the last 27 seconds, officially knocking Moorestown’s record to 11-1.
Junior Lindsay Haas believes the win stemmed from the team’s abundance of enthusiasm paired with their cohesiveness on the field. When asked what helped them to be most successful, Lindsay said, “We worked together as a team really well and we had so much energy before the game.”
As the victor of the past three Tournament of Champions finals, Moorestown was no easy competitor. The team was voted the number one Public School National Champions of 2014 by Brine and Toplaxrecruits.com. Nike, USA Today, and US Lacrosse Magazine named the Quakers number two in the nation. However, Ridgewood also boasts impressive stats, particularly this season. So far, the Maroons scored above double-digits in five of their games’ first halves. They only lagged behind before halftime in a single game, scored 4-3 before halftime and 9-8, in Ridgewood’s favor, by the end.
The Maroons have flourished since day one of this year’s season. Their first game against West Essex ended in a 20-6 win, followed by a blowout 20-2 victory against Indian Hills. On April 27, the girls channeled their enthusiasm from the Lax Day win into defeating West Morris Central with a score of 15-12, sealing Ridgewood’s 12-0 record.
Following the win, the Maroons were seeded first in the Bergen County Tournament, which began May 2. They got off to a great start by beating Dwight Englewood 21-4. With a 10-year winning streak in the county tournament, the girls hope to beat the second seed team, Immaculate Heart Academy. Because they have faced off against IHA in the past seven finals of this tournament, they are confident that they will be able to uphold their streak. Coming up, Ridgewood will be facing teams such as Pascack Valley, Westfield, Glen Ridge, and IHA. They hope to remain undefeated and use the momentum from their win against Moorestown to exceed the successes of their previous seasons.
Megan Collier
Sports Editor