Lacrosse: Mounties outlasted by Glen Ridge in Essex County Tourney final

By Andrew Garda

garda@montclairlocal.news

The 2-seed Montclair High School girls lacrosse team fell to 1-seed Glen Ridge, 18-11 in the Essex County Tournament finals Saturday afternoon. While the Mounties fought hard and never gave up, the Ridgers took advantage of early mistakes and were able to generate constant pressure on offense to get the win.

The two teams traded goals for much of the first half, with Jill Jennings and Nora Giordano doing the damage for the Mounties. However, after Jennings scored her third goal of the half, Glen Ridge scored four unanswered goals before Jennings found the back of the net with 32 seconds left.

But the Ridgers were able to score again with just 8 seconds left in the half, giving them a 9-5 lead going into the half.

The officials let Glen Ridge play a very physical game, which didn't lend itself to the style of game MHS plays - a fast, cutting offense with a defense which jams up the scoring lanes. Glen Ridge slowed the game down, disrupting the things which normally make Montclair dangerous offensively.

After the half, the Mounties came out fighting, and the officials seemed to adjust their calls to account for the style of play Glen Ridge had been using. However, the Ridgers were still able to keep up with MHS and every time the Mounties closed the gap between the two teams, Glen Ridge found a way to score.

Three times towards the end of the game, the Ridgers were able to cut across the goal to get wide open in front of goaltender Olivia Lynch. There was only so much Lynch could do, and while she played a great game, wide open shots are difficult to stop.

The Mounties kept fighting to the last whistle, but couldn't get close enough to overcome Glen Ridge.

For an in-depth look at the Mounties' determined effort against Glen Ridge in the Essex County finals, read the Montclair Local's Thursday edition.