Ridgewood Reigns Victorious

Ridgewood and Teaneck both play in the Big North Conference's division III, but this afternoon at Maple Field it appeared the two clubs were in completely different leagues.

The host Maroons (2-1) out-matched and out-played the Highwaymen (0-3) behind 21 total shots and 10 corner kicks, leading to a 6-0 difference on the scoreboard.

"I thought the guys showed some great energy and really got after the fifty-fifty balls to take control of the game," said Ridgewood coach Craig Mahler.

He added, "We're still very much a work in progress, but today was certainly a step in the right direction."

Leading the way for the Maroons were the brilliant efforts of Griffin Abbott and Matt Steinberg, who combined to score two goals, both of which came in the first half of play.

Steinberg struck first, just 1:30 in to the match when a deflection of the goal keeper's gloves allowed the ball to settle momentarily at the forward's feet before he slammed it in to the back of the net.

Moments later, Abbott benefited from a Teaneck handball in the box, which allowed him the chance at a penalty shot and a 2-0 lead for his team.

"I was trying to gain possession of a loose ball when their player just grabbed it," said Abbott, who then lined up for the free shot.

"When you get an open opportunity on the net, it's important to take advantage because quite frankly, goals are hard to come by."

If anyone can attest to that it's Teaneck. The Highwaymen remain scoreless on the season after shutout losses to both St Joes (6-0) and Hackensack (2-0) and came empty once again on all seven of their shots Monday afternoon against Ridgewood.

"I can tell you one thing, it's not from lack of effort," noted Teaneck coach Tony Nylander.

"The guys give it everything they got and I thought we were able to put together some nice runs which as the season goes on will lead to a lot of goals for us."

The Maroons continued to show them how it's done with a barrage of second half goals from Billy Maltz and Yusuf Humza, icing the Ridgewood victory.

As pleased as Mahler was with the goal scoring, he was even more satisfied with the shutout.

"We take a lot of pride in our defense, so after giving up seven goals to Ramapo we really wanted to make a point of re-establishing ourselves on the defensive end."

Last week's 7-4 loss to the Raiders was an out-of-division contest, leaving the Maroons still undefeated in league play and on top of BNC's Division III.