Chatham Girls' Lacrosse Falls to Ridgewood

RIDGEWOOD — It wasn't ever easy for the Chatham girls' lacrosse team in its matchup against Ridgewood on Tuesday. The Cougars looked sluggish on both sides of the ball in their 18-9 loss to the Maroons at Ridgewood High School.

"We played terribly today," says Chatham head coach Deb Marriott. "We couldn't get possession, we weren't playing like we wanted it. We didn't have any motivation. I don't think anything went right."

The Maroons got out on top early, scoring seven unanswered goals in the first 12 minutes of play. 

"For the first part of the first half, we were asleep," Marriott says. "Ridgewood was all over us."

Despite some late first-half goals from Kelsey Perselay and Jaclyn Leto to cut the score to 9-3, the Cougars never got a chance to get back on their feet. Chatham couldn't find an answer for Ridgewood's Kelci Smesko, who logged three of her four goals in the first half of play. 

Chatham's troubles continued into the second half, though the Cougars, who are without senior Meghan Murray (concussion), were able to score a goal during a three-minute penalty against Ridgewood. The Cougars scored their two finals goals in the game's last two minutes.

Chatham's Cat McCutcheon cited the team's inability to capitalize on scoring opportunities, as well as the Maroons' strong defense, as reasons for the loss.

"We're a focused team, but Ridgewood was ready for us," says McCutcheon. "We had some good looks that didn't work out and they were able to keep collapsing our defense. We just have to do the right things next game."

The Ridgewood defense swarmed the Cougars on every possession, limiting scoring chances to single shot attempts before transitioning into offense.

Powered by Smesko and Sam Cermack, the Maroons were able to consistently penetrate Chatham's defense, scoring almost at will. The pair combined for seven of the team's goals on the day.

"We came in with a really positive attitude," says Smesko. "Our team chemistry really shined today."

Smesko went on to praise her team's defense, which limited Chatham to 17 shots on goal. Ridgewood had 24 shots.

According to Cermack, it was the team's defense that allowed her to be so effective.

"Our defense was working really well," says Cermack. "We moved the ball really well today, and it allowed us to get good movement and good passes."

Ridgewood assistant coach Marissa Moore was also impressed with her team's ability to turn strong defensive play into effective offense.

"Our transitions were amazing," she says. "Our defense worked really well today."

The 13-2 Cougars will look to regroup as they head to South Jersey to take on Shawnee on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.