BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Ridge High School’s girls lacrosse team closed with two unanswered goals Monday night to beat Bernards 10-9 at home on senior night, improving to 13-4 on the season.
The game stayed tight throughout. Bernards led 3-2 after the first quarter and took a 5-4 advantage into halftime.
Both teams scored four goals in the third quarter, leaving Bernards ahead 9-8 entering the final period. Ridge then shut out Bernards in the fourth and flipped the score for the one-goal win.
Junior Camryn Ireland led the Red Devils with three goals. Sophomore Emily Green finished with two goals and two assists, including a late buzzer-beater that proved to be the game-winner.
Kate Haviland added two goals, while Lola Reynolds, Lexi Hansen and Cameron Hansen each scored once.
"Bernards is a strong, well-coached program, so it was exciting to play them again," said head coach Olivia Harpel. "It was a well-fought game until the very end."
Harpel pointed to Ridge’s defensive effort in the closing stretch, along with senior goalie Rylan Broadhurst.
"Our defense and goalies played some very gritty minutes during this game, and again at the very end — to keep Bernards off the board took a huge effort. With 30 seconds left, it was about the players’ mentality to execute. It was an exhilarating ending to the game, to say the least," said Harpel.
She also highlighted Green and Broadhurst after the win.
"Emily Green, not just for her buzzer beater, although that was crucial, but through the entire game she repeatedly came up clutch for her teammates and worked at a high level to compete. Rylan Broadhurst had quite the performance to keep Bernards from scoring late," said Harpel.
On the team’s approach during the game, Harpel said, "We tried to be strategic about our timeouts and use them to reset, but ultimately we had to battle on the draw and fight to capitalize on possession."
The win came on a night honoring the program’s four graduating seniors: Zoe Colodney, co-captain Charlotte Daniel, co-captain Andrea Dulyn and Broadhurst.
"Charlotte, Zoe, Rylan, and Andrea have all been incredible leaders this season and have helped to cultivate a strong culture and chemistry that will have a lasting impact on future teams," Harpel said. "They will be dearly missed."
Ridge is scheduled to close out the regular season at home on Wednesday, May 20, when it hosts East Brunswick at 5 p.m.
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