Girls Lax: 'Absolutely Amazing' State Title

NEW BRUNSWICK—Neil Armstrong, Christopher Columbus and Amelia Earhart are all known for being pioneers in their respected fields. They defied the odds to achieve what nobody had ever done before and in doing so etched their names in to the history books to be remembered forever and ever.

Joining the list of the all time greats is the 2010 Ridgewood girls lacrosse team, which won the schools first-ever women's state championship after defeating West Morris of Mendham 7-6.  

"This is something we've been working toward the entire season," said head coach Karla Mixon, who had just been doused by the victorious Gatorade bath. "I couldn't be more proud of the effort the girls have given me not just today but since the very first day of practice. This truly is a very special group of individuals who came together to form one extraordinary team."

On Saturday afternoon at Rutgers University, the Maroons (23-1) entered the Tournament of Champions final as the top seed where they faced second-seeded West Morris of Mendham (24-1).

Early on, the Minutewomen gave Ridgewood everything it could handle as the two teams exchanged leads four times in the first half.

Helping the Maroons keep pace was midfielder Jess Miller, who scored four goals in the opening 25 minutes—including three in a row when the team needed it most.

After Mendham's Nicole Graziano found the net to put her team up 4-3, Miller responded with the equalizer and than the go ahead in a span of just two minutes. As if that wasn't enough the junior then capped off the first half with another goal to put Ridgewood up 6-4 heading into the break.

"We decided to use more isolation, one-on-one plays, and I was lucky enough to draw some whistles," said Miller, who scored three goals off of penalty shots. "I'm happy I was able to provide a boost to give us some momentum and confidence heading in to halftime, and from there we just continued to battle."

As the second half began the pace of play began to tighten as both sides struggled to find scoring opportunities. Finally with 18:12 left to play Graziano found the net for the fourth time of the day to pull Mendham closer 6-5.

The Minutewomen continued to scratch and claw as they refused to go away. Scoring the equalizer for Mendham was Meade Brewster who found the back of the cage with just 6:01 left on the clock.

Sensing the game was begging to tilt to the other end, Mixon called a timeout to rally the troops.

"I wanted to give them a quick breather and let them gather their composure so they could finish strong," Mixon said. "It was key that we continued to play our game and focus on playing with patience and moving the ball around."

The strategy paid off in a big way when Samantha Cermack scored the go-ahead goal with 2:54 left in the match. The senior standout was able to isolate herself against a lone Mendham defender before taking her to school—much like she had done to opponents the entire season.

"We originally ran the play for Sally [Jentis], but it wasn't there so we continued to move the ball around where I was able to find myself in some open space," said Cermack, who capped off a stellar year that included 54 goals and a team-high 70 assists.

From there Cermack juked her defender to the ground to give herself an opening on the right side of the goal before finishing with a powerful shot in to the upper corner of the cage.

Mendham tried desperately to come back one more time, but all hopes were dashed when Ridgewood's Abbey VanHorne took control of a loose ball with just 53 seconds left in regulation. The play not only gave Ridgewood possession, but VanHorne also drew a penalty on Mendham's leader Graziano to knock her from the game.

The sequence of events gave Ridgewood a man advantage allowing them to play keep away the final 50 seconds. With that the clock ticked to zero to give the Maroons the title.

"We knew this was going to be our year," said an ecstatic VanHorne. "We've had so much fun playing together that we almost felt like it was our fate to win. When we we're out there playing together and having fun we almost feel unstoppable. I couldn't ask for a better group of teammates and to accomplish this with them is absolutely amazing."