Ridgewood, Lakeland play to tie by Jim McConville special to The Record
WAYNE – When the general hockey public looks at the 3-3 score between Ridgewood and Lakeland, the though process will be that it was a good tie for the Maroons. The reality is it was anything but a good tie.
Fighting for their state tournament life, Ridgewood saw a golden opportunity to impress the selection committee go by the boards. The Maroons (5-9-5) will need an at-large bid to make the states, and with two games to go before the cutoff, this missed chance stings.
“Can it be just ‘ugh’,” an exasperated Ridgewood coach Mike Lucchesi said. “We had everything going for us, we gave it back and then we just couldn’t find the net. That’s been the story of this season.”
What had Lucchesi and the Maroons so frustrated was the 3-0 lead they had in the first period, especially when the third goal came in the final minute of the opening period. For 14:07, they were owning a Lakeland team that could easily be a top five seed in the Public B bracket come state tournament time.
The Maroons got the all-important first goal at 5:45 as Sebastian Samuels got to a loose puck at the top of the crease and got it past Lancer goaltender Carl Lorenz. J.P. Kelly then took advantage of an errant clearing pass and came in on a breakaway, scoring over the glove at 7:49.
The last minute of the first period saw a pair of swings. First, Ridgewood went up 3-0 on Kelly’s second of the game on a power play with 53.9 seconds left. The Lancers pulled that one back with 8.6 seconds on the clock on Andrew Heck’s 24th goal of the season.
“Completely shifted the momentum,” Lucchesi said. “You could kind of sense it between the periods.”
Lakeland (14-5-2) got the next goal as well, with Chris Wands making a nice rush into the zone, skating to the left slot and going high to the glove side to beat Ridgewood goalie Nate Loughlin.
With the momentum clearly tilting to Lakeland, they knotted it up just nine seconds into the third period. It was Heck again from just off the crease, making it three goals on just 10 shots for the Lancers.
In a game bereft of penalties, Ridgewood’s only one came with exactly three minutes left. Lakeland sent five shots on goal in the two minute power play, but Loughlin held and preserved the deadlock.
“There are plenty of games we can look back on and say, that one hurt us, and this will be one of them,” Lucchesi said in reference to his team’s postseason chances. “I still think we deserve a look based on our schedule, but a signature win like this would have been huge.”
WAYNE HILLS 9, WAYNE VALLEY 2 – The Mayor’s Cup matchup was no contest, as the Patriots got a much-needed win in their late season push for a state tournament berth.
Now 8-10-1, Hills made quick work of this one, as Daniel Mirman scored just 17 seconds into the game. That set off a barrage of Patriot tallies, including five in the first period and four in the second.
Tyler Mirman had a hat trick and an assists and Dean Hulbert added three goals and three assists for the Patriots. Wayne Valley used three different goaltenders in the game as the Pats outshot the Indians 48-14.
INDIAN HILLS 3, RAMSEY 0 – The Braves (15-4-2) continued their march to a top eight seed in the upcoming Public B state tournament as Max Flink turned aside 13 shots for his first varsity shutout.
Rory Maurer put the Braves on the scoreboard just 1:33 into the game with what would turn out to be the only goal they would need. It was his 12th of the season, and Thomas Moskal added another goal at 13:06 of the first period.
Matt Paiotti got the final goal at 8:25 of the third period, as Ramsey’s Brendan McCaskey made 41 saves to keep the Rams close.
MAHWAH 12, RAMAPO 2 – The Thunderbirds enhanced their state tournament chances by getting back to the .500 mark, the minimum needed to earn an automatic berth. They face Wayne Valley Saturday in their last game before the cutoff and a win or tie assures them a state spot.
The T-Birds wasted no time in taking complete control of the game. They scored four goals on eight shots in the first 2:01 of the contest, with four different scorers finding the net. Shane Ciongoli got it started just 16 seconds in, followed by Evan Levitsky, Kevin Johnston and Matt Petrovic.
Johnston finished with three goals and three assists while Patrick Larkin and Brian Petrovic each had two goals as Mahwah outshot Ramapo (3-15-3) 61-18 and extended the Raiders’ non-winning streak to 0-10-1.