Moving Right Along: Maroons Throttle Vernon; Face Bridgewater in Sectional Final

In its latest business-as-usual match, the top-seeded Ridgewood girls lacrosse team crushed No. 4 Vernon, 19-5, in a North, Group 4 State sectional semifinal yesterday at Maple Park Field.
 
The Maroons (18-1) have outscored their opponents, 62-10, during their first three postseason matches. The enormous goal disparity, however, will likely change Monday when second-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan (21-0) travels to Maple Park with a sectional title on the line.
 
While the Panthers haven't played as tough of a schedule as Ridgewood, winners of 16 straight, the Somerset County school isn't undefeated by accident.
 
Carlee Dragon, who owns New Jersey's career points record with 522 on 252 goals and 270 assists, leads Bridgewater-Raritan. Dragon is supported by Lauren Sbrilli, who scored five goals to push the Panthers past Hillsborough, 14-10, in their semifinal yesterday. Ridgewood and Bridgewater-Raritan scrimmaged each other in March, but RHS head coach Karla Mixon isn't putting much stock into what she saw from the Panthers almost two months ago.
 
"I'm sure they've totally changed and evolved, just like we have," Mixon said. "They've got two great scorers, but to put together the season they have had, more girls have helped, which I saw when scouting them."
 
Mixon added that she's thrilled her squad's hard work in earning the top seed has paid off in the form of a home match for the final.
 
"It's huge for us to be at home," she said. "You can look at the home-field advantage we will have, and that it will be a long bus ride for them. When you get to this point in the playoffs, it's important to have every advantage you can."
 
Against Vernon, the Maroons notched four goals in 2:11 to take a 4-0 lead with 21:23 remaining in the first half. Sally Jentis started off the scoring for the locals 1:26 into the match and was followed up by a tally from Kelci Smesko, who scored off a feed from Paige Pearson.
 
Samantha Giordano scored an unassisted goal at the 22:03 mark before Smesko scored her second of five goals 40 seconds later, prompting the Vikings to call a timeout.
 
"Because it was so hot today, we wanted to get a quick lead and then be in the position to slow things down," said Sammy Cermack, who scored three goals. "We worked on possession and making sure that everyone got touches and spread the ball out."
 
Vernon scored two of the match's next three goals, but a 4-1 run by Ridgewood pushed it to a 9-3 halftime lead. After intermission, Giordano, who finished with two goals and four assists, dished out three helpers and scored once.
 
"Even with the heat, we played composed and did what we are capable of doing," Mixon said. "Defensively, we needed to improve at opening up, and we did so by sliding better to the ball in the second half."
 
So it's on to Monday for Ridgewood, ranked No. 2 in New Jersey, for its date with Bridgewater-Raritan, the state's third-ranked team. The opening face-off is scheduled for 4:15 p.m.
 
"Bridgewater is really fast and has two big scorers, so our top priority is to shut them down," said Cermack, a senior captain. "If we can do that, I feel we will be successful."