Red Devils Down No. 10 Hillsborough to Keep Playoff Hopes Alive

With a rollercoaster season nearing its end and a state tournament berth hanging in the balance, the Ridge ice hockey team needs every point it can scratch out. Friday night, the Red Devils played like a team on a mission.

Overcoming a sluggish start, the Devils topped Skyland Division rival Hillsborough 3-1 Friday night at ProTech Hockey Ponds in Somerset. Buoyed by 25 saves from junior goalie Alec Wells, the Devils (6-7-3, 3-4-3 conference) managed to snap a five-game winning streak by a Hillsborough team ranked 10th in one statewide poll.

"Alec stood on his head tonight," said senior forward Eric Menard. "All season he's been keeping us in games."

Senior forward Eric Von Der Linde notched a goal and an assist and senior forward Jake Hotz tallied two assists, retaining the team scoring lead with 21 points.

"There's no doubt it's been a tough season. We've played down to some of our opponents," said junior defenseman Joshua Raff. "But we're coming back now, and we're looking to finish the season strong."

"We feel like we have the momentum now," added Menard. "We're looking for an at-large bid into the state tournament, and we need all the wins we can get. This was big for us tonight, beating a team that's ranked 10th in the state. I think we have some confidence now. If we play solid defense like we did tonight, I think we feel like we can beat anybody."

Hillsborough grabbed the momentum early on, outshooting the Red Devils 9-1 to start the game. Ridge drew first blood with less than a minute to play in the first period, scoring on a power play when Raff took a feed from Von der Linde near the blue line and smacked a blistering slap shot past Hillsborough goalie Bobby Palzer.

"The puck just came my way, and I was just hoping to hit someone," Raff said of the first goal. "I got lucky with that one."

The Devils came out on fire in the second, outshooting the Raiders 12-3 but failing to find the net.

Hillsborough scored the equalizer early in the third. On a 4-on-4, junior Jeff Killian fed a neutral zone pass to Brett Siegrist, who weaved through two defenseman and tucked a low shot around Wells's left side to tie the game at 1-1.

The Devils retook the lead two minutes later, when Menard tapped in a centering pass from Hotz to make it 2-1. Hotz figured into the final goal as well, assisting Von der Linde on an empty-netter with a minute to go.

"Jake did a great job getting to the puck. He has a lot of speed," Menard said of the go-ahead goal. "He made a great pass."

The Red Devils will soon take on Skyland powerhouse Pingry at the Bridgewater Sports Arena – the game was scheduled for Saturday but postponed due to weather. The Big Blue, undefeated in the conference and ranked eighth in one poll, topped Ridge 6-1 in their last meeting Jan. 26.