Ridgewood Boys Lacrosse: Maroons Defeat Division Rivals Mountain Lakes to Remain Perfect

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — A big fight feeling hung in the air when the Ridgewood boys lacrosse team locked horns with their division rivals, the Mountain Lakes Lakers. Ultimately, Maroons overcame the outside pressure and the raucous Mountain Lake crowd to out duel their foes, 12-7.

“It is Mountain Lakes and Ridgewood, so you know it is going to be a good game,” said Ridgewood Head Coach Mike Pounds. “We did not have to do anything different [to get ready]. It was just a matter of our guys staying within themselves and understanding that the environment was going to be different from anything we have seen this year. They adapted to it and did a great job.”

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The heavyweight slugfest lived up to the billing in the first quarter, as the two teams traded goals back and forth. Ridgewood was able to enter the second with a one-goal lead, which they expanded by outscoring the Lakers 3-1 in the quarter. All told, it was a 7-4 ballgame as we headed to halftime.

After a third quarter where the Maroons once again outscored their opponents, it looked like we were headed for another easy Ridgewood victory. The Lakers gave them something to think about at the end of the third, when they scored with seconds on the clock to pull within four. Minutes later, at the start of the fourth quarter, they scored again to shrink Ridgewood’s lead to three, 10-7. If the Maroons were panicking over the possibility of blowing the lead, they certainly did not show it. They marched right back down the field and bled a lot of time off the clock with a methodical, probing attack. As the Lakers grew increasingly desperate to force a turnover, Ridgewood pounced. With a slick juke move, Jake Roth got behind his man and skipped the ball into the goal to put the Maroons back up by four and stop the Mountain Lakes run.

The Lakers were running out of time, and desperately pushed to try and cut into Ridgewood’s lead, but the Maroons’ defense held strong. On an ensuing counterattack, Jack Schultz delivered the dagger when he darted behind the net before deftly flicking the ball past the Mountain Lakes goalie. 12-7, Ridgewood, your final score. It was a game that never felt like a blowout despite the impressive margin of victory. Mountain Lakes never stopped pushing and gave the Maroons a fright to start the fourth quarter.

“The game went about as we expected,” remarked Coach Pounds after the game. “It is always a dog fight over here.”

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After picking up this crucial win, Ridgewood remains undefeated on the year at 8-0. They will attempt to stay scorching hot when they host Ramapo this Saturday.

Read more Sports news from around Ridgewood here:

• Ridgewood Girls Lacrosse: Maroons Ride Huge Second Half to Beat Glen Ridge, 14-10
• Ridgewood Boys Lacrosse: Maroons Stay Undefeated with Win Over Northern Highlands
• Ridgewood Girls Lacrosse: Maroons Lose Nail Biter to Summit, Fall to 4-2

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