Ridge Senior Night Soccer Ends in Scoreless Tie
Highly ranked teams battle it out in rain for a 0-0 tie.
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Megan Gross (13) gets some foot to the head in the act of heading the ball. A hard-fought fight between Ridge and Montgomery, two highly ranked teams, ended in a 0-0 tie.
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The Ridge High School girls varsity soccer team celebrated senior night Wednesday at Lee Field hosting Montgomery. The game was a solid nonstop battle between two top 20 teams that went to regulation and double overtime before ending in a 0-0 tie.
| 1st | 2nd | 1st OT | 2nd OT | FINAL | |
| Montgomery (10-1-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ridge (9-4-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
IN SHORT
Ridge opened the evening by honoring the ten Devil seniors and their families on the field.
What followed was a highly anticipated contest between two top 20 teams and there was no disappointment. Ridge, ranked No. 11 by the Star Ledger, and Montgomery, ranked No. 5, played on a dark, wet, foggy field that at times prohibited sight across the pitch. Both teams played a quick, aggressive game with each having their chances and both having great performances from their goalies, Rebecca Ravitz for Montgomery with 12 saves and Devil Rachel Axt with 15 saves.
The most exciting moment came in overtime when Devil Gigi Cefelli fired a free kick off a foul from the 35-yard line that went over goalie Ravitz into the goal. The Ridge sideline ran onto the field in jubilation only to find out the foul provided for an indirect kick that required it be touched by another player from either team before it went into the goal.
DEVIL OF THE GAME
Rachel Axt, goalkeeper — Axt made 15 saves in the game and stopped a number of attacks before a shot could materialize. "Rachel really stepped up and made huge plays to stop Montgomery." - Ridge head varsity coach Katie Donahue
DEVIL KEY PERFORMERS
Nicole Bates, defense — Bates gave the Montgomery forwards little time to set up or organize an attack.
Elise Romano, midfield - "I think she played the best game of the season. She connected us in the middle and was diciplined in her defense" - Coach Donahue
THEY SAID IT
"We spent a lot of practice time on Wednesday going back to the fundamentals of defending, not diving in and making sure we are getting numbers behind the ball. When you play a team like Montgomery that has speed everywhere, coverage was important for us. Everyone gave it all for 100 minutes. We played to the sloppy conditions and we got done what we needed to get done. I would have loved for that win, for that goal to have been allowed." - Coach Donahue
