It is a position they have not been in for many a year, if ever. As inconceivable as it may seem, the Maroons of Ridgewood High School entered the first week of May with a losing record in boys lacrosse and were in jeopardy of missing out on the state tournament.
Those words were thought to be impossible for the Ridgewood, a perennial contender for a state championship and the premier program in Bergen County. The team has long been the measuring stick for every other Bergen squad, but that aura of invincibility has taken a hit recently, culminating last Sunday at Ramapo High School.
Facing unbeaten No. 1 seed Mahwah in the semifinals of the county tournament, the No. 4 Maroons twice came back from three-goal deficits, including once in the fourth quarter, only to see an uncharacteristic mistake lead to an 11-10 overtime loss and an abrupt end to their tourney life.
A Luke Cichocki goal with 1:41 left in regulation tied the game at 10, but as time expired, a Ridgewood player was called for a taunting penalty, which meant that Mahwah would gain possession on a free release to begin the extra session.
It took all of 33 seconds for the Thunderbirds (12-0), a second-year varsity program, to score the game-winner and set off a wild celebration. At the other end of the field, the Maroons (5-7) were left in a combination of stunned disbelief and anger.
The game itself was a microcosm of Ridgewood's season. There were moments where it looked every bit the team that county foes fear. Just as quickly, the fortunes would turn, and it appeared ordinary.
"We just didn't sustain the good things long enough," RHS head coach Mike Pounds said. "You let a kid get a strong-hand shot in the middle of the field, or we press and take a bad shot; just not executing consistently for 48 minutes."
"Overall, if you evaluate it, it was a good effort," he added. "There's got to be consistency. We still had moments where we were all not on the same page."
The Maroons suffered their lapses at the key moments. They fell behind 4-1 in the first period, allowing an end-to-end run and score by Mahwah's Tim Culloty. They came back to tie it, 4-4 before the end of the quarter.
After the two teams each had single goals in the second and third periods, Mahwah scored three straight goals to open the fourth quarter, with Culloty again making a rush out of the defensive end off a turnover and setting up a goal.
"Athletically, we don't match up as well against the good teams," Pounds admitted. "That's been our biggest problem."
Still, Ridgewood came back again with three consecutive tallies from seniors Ryan Mansbach and Brian Cubellis and sophomore Max Luing. A Maroon penalty allowed Mahwah to notch a man-up goal to go ahead, 10-9, before Cichocki tied it and set up the overtime.
"It's absolutely disappointing," Pounds said of the loss. "Any time you lose to a team in your county, where you've been supreme for a long time, it never tastes good."
There is no time to wallow in despair for Ridgewood, which visited the state's No. 1 team, Summit, on Wednesday and will host Northern Highlands today at 4 p.m.
Unless the Maroons win both games, it will be up to the state-tournament selection committee to include them in the Group 3 playoffs as an at-large team. Otherwise, they will suffer the ignominy of being on the outside looking in for the first time in over two decades.
"At this point, all we can do is focus on ourselves and what we can do ourselves to correct it," said Pounds. "You can focus on the game — you can't focus on the calls, and you can't focus on the other team. All of our players still have areas to improve upon, and that's all we can look at right now."
By: Jim McConville can be reached at farrellb@northjersey.com
Photo Credit: KELLY BIRDSEYE
The Record
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