Girls Triumphant, Boys Defeated on Ridgewood Lax Day

Celebrating the village's favored sport for the 15th annual Lax Day, the Ridgewood High School lacrosse teams notched one victory but also suffered a defeat at the hands of one of the nation's best on Saturday.

With cameras rolling for the regionally televised "Game of the Week" on MSG Varsity, the boys team (3-5) was overmatched by the precision passing and air-tight defense of West Islip (7-2), ranked #29 in the nation. 

The match was close in the first half, with Ridgewood down 6-3. But things fell apart in the third quarter, with Ridgewood putting up a zeros.

West Islip, meanwhile, strung together three goals and a late effort by Ridgewood in the final quarter wasn't nearly enough to overcome the deficit.

Ridgewood had a lot of chances, but throughout the game was stymied by West Islip's talented goaltender, Jack Kelly. They fell by a score of 9-5.

On offense, West Islip's Brendan Smith sliced and diced Ridgewood with three goals and three assists. Despite his stellar performance, Smith was arguably outshone by teammate Tom Moore, who found the net three times and chipped in with four assists. Mike Moynihan also did damage with two goals.

Blake Feagles scored twice for Ridgewood, and Peter Reuter and Max Luing also found the back of the net.

With Saturday's 9-5 loss, Ridgewood has dropped to Don Bosco, St. Augustine's and West Islip, all excellent teams. The Maroons hope to rebound against Glen Ridge on Wednesday.

The Ridgewood girls (9-1) fared much better against their New York foes. The most storied girls program in New Jersey history ran a clinic against Niskayuna, of upstate New York.

Fresh off a rare defeat at the hands of Glen Ridge on Tuesday, Ridgewood's attack was firing on all cylinders. By the halftime whistle, the lax ladies were up 12-2 and cruised to a final score of 18-6.

Duke-bound All-American Kelci Smesko snapped five goals and Lauren Bueasoleil, Kaitlin Concilio and co. continued to pile on, scoring in bunches. 

The girls next play IHA on Monday (barring rain) before the Bergen County tournament starts on Thursday. The Lady Maroons, unsurprisingly, are the top seed. Glen Rock checks in as the fifth seed.