IHA girls lacrosse cruises to win over Ramapo by Sean Farrell of The Record
FRANKLIN LAKES – The song may not be Sue Montegari’s first choice. But the sound of victory is good enough.
The Blue Eagles’ coach just laughed after her team’s 13-4 rout of Ramapo on Thursday that extended a winning streak to three games. Playing against one of the county’s best teams may tighten up another group. But hers just danced to Ylvis’ 2013 viral hit “What Does the Fox Say?” on the short bus ride over.
“They showed me a video of them in the hallway after-school doing a dance to that, doing the fox dance,” Montegari said. “I don’t even know what that is. But they really enjoy each other and have a good time. They’re happy to be here. They never complain. They’re special. I’ve told them that I’ve been doing this for 15 years of coaching at Ridgewood [and Ramapo] and they’re a special group. If we can figure out all the pieces and connect, there’s so much potential.”
Immaculate Heart (5-2) has beaten a who’s who of Bergen County during the first few weeks. The Blue Eagles knocked off a pair of returning sectional champions – in Northern Highlands and Saddle River Day – but this may have been their most complete win to date. They tied a season-high with 13 goals and stayed disciplined on the defensive side. Sophomore Lexi Edmonds took over in the second half, finishing the day with five goals and six assists. Sophomore MaryPat Sayre helped out with her second hat trick in three games.
The Blue Eagles have really heated up since a 2-2 start.
“We couldn’t find our groove and keep our groove,” Montegari said. “They started to rush the process. Today was the first day when they realized to slow down [the decisions]. We worked on committing to the fundamentals, running through the ground balls, running through catches and doing the first fundamental thing before the next thing. Today was the first day, they started to trust that and trust each other. They see each other really, really well.”
The offense came to life in the last 20 minutes when IHA’s 8-0 run turned a close game in a comfortable victory. Like usual, the action started with Edmonds who’s becoming the Blue Eagles’ go-to scorer. The 5-foot-10 middie was involved in four straight goals in the span of 3:28, after being momentarily benched in the second half. Her 100th career point came on a behind-the-net pass to Brooke Marotti on the goal that finished the run.
“It’s really exciting,” Edmonds said. “But I have to give credit to my whole team since they help me out.”
“We’ve work really hard as a team in practice,” Sayre said. “We work well together and bring out each other’s strengths.”
Montegari saw something different about her team about two weeks into the preseason. The Blue Eagles committed to an unselfish brand of lacrosse and enjoyed doing it.
Now the results are starting to show. But Montegari will leave the dancing to everyone else.
“I think I’m getting a little too old for that,” Montegari said. “I’m not really sure I want that on video tape. There’s way too many social media apps today.”