Varsity Teams Hoping To Rebound After Tough Losses, Disappointing Tie

Like they say, a tie is like kissing your sister. But for the Ridgewood ice hockey team, they will take the 4-4 tie on Saturday against Tenafly at the Ice House in Hackensack in a battle of two of the better teams in the Big North Gold division battle.

With an extra man on the ice and the goalie on the bench, Peter McGinley scored his lone goal of the game with 19 seconds in the game to tie it at four.

And Ridgewood survived as the referees disallowed a Tigers goal, concluding the would-be Tigers shot came after the buzzer went off, ending the game.

When it was all said and done, Ridgewood head coach Mike Lucchesi was content in going away with the tie and a point, especially after Tenafly went ahead 4-3 just inside the one minute mark.

"Considering that we let up a goal in the final minute, we are happy that we're happy at the tie and getting the point," said Lucchesi. "It shows that we maintained our poise."

The Maroons remain in first place in the division with a 10-0-2 record with 22 points, four points ahead of second place Pascack Valley with 18 points and five points ahead of Tenafly with 17 points.

Overall, the Maroons are 13-2-2 with the state playoff cutoff date coming next week. Ridgewood has four games remaining in the division including ending the regular season with games on the road at Tenafly on Feb. 16 (7 p.m.) at McKay Park in Englewood and at Pascack Valley at Sport-O-Rama in Monsey, NY on Feb. 18 at 9 p.m.

"We like that we have two tough games going into the (Big North Gold) Cup and the state tournament," said Lucchesi with the game against Tenafly adding extra meaning because that date is the state cutoff for the state playoffs.

In the tie with Tenafly, McGinley and Kevin Entwistle who registered a goal each and two assists each. Along with McGinley and Entwistle notching goals, Jake Middleton and Zach Kinkella added a goal each. In goal, Kasey Zegel made 18 saves to preserve the tie.

It was the first game for Ridgewood in six days. The Maroons dispatched Clifton, 8-3, on Jan. 30, highlighted by Kinkella's hat trick while McGinley added a pair of goals.

Girls Basketball

Ridgewood girls basketball team’s drive for a Bergen County title came to an end as the 16th-seeded Maroons fell to top-seeded IHA, 53-43, on Saturday night at Paramus Catholic. Ridgewood dropped to 10-8 on the season.

Ridgewood was hurt right off the bat as the Maroons were down 12-0 before Megan Roxas scored halfway through the first quarter. Maroons' Kelci Smesko led the way with 15 points while both Roxas and Tara Porfido added eight points each.

The Maroons got back into the game and even cut the Blue Eagles lead to seven in the third quarter after a three-point bucket by Courtney Tarleton with four minutes remaining in the quarter as IHA led 37-30.

Ridgewood though could not get any closer as the Blue Eagles inside game was just too strong for the Maroons.

Boys Basketball

The Ridgewood boys basketball team will be part of the inaugural Bergen Invitational Tournament that starts this coming weekend at Lyndhurst High School. The 16-team BIT is considered the alternative to the Bergen County Jamboree as school applied after not receiving a bid to the Jamboree.

As of Thursday, the Ridgewood boys team was 7-9 after falling 85-59 at Teaneck. The Highwaymen are the number one seed in the Bergen County Jamboree. The Maroons were down 18-8 after the first quarter and 42-18 at halftime. Evan Bartlik led Ridgewood with 18 while Alex Cohen chipped in 15 for the Maroons in the Big North contest.

In the BIT, Ridgewood is part of the Mall section and is the number one seed. The Maroons take on fourth-seeded Saddle River Day on Sunday, Feb. 13 at Lyndhurst High School. If Ridgewood wins they would take on the winner of second-seeded Palisades Park-third-seeded Westwood on Feb. 19 at St. Joseph’s in Montvale. If Ridgewood loses they would play the loser of Palisades Park-Westwood at Bergenfield on Feb. 16.