Red Devils Tame Panthers

When Ridge senior forward Jake Hotz delivered a crushing check on Bridgewater-Raritan's Tanner McWain during the first shift of Saturday's Skyland Conference regular season ice hockey tilt, it set the tempo for the Red Devils' tenacity for the rest of the night.

Hotz netted a goal and had two assists, and junior goaltender Alec Wells made 29 saves as Ridge improved its record to 2-3 by dismantling Bridgewater-Raritan, 6-1, at the Bridgewater Sports Arena.

"Bridgewater is one of our rivals and we went hard from the start," Hotz said. "It's the first home win we needed to get, and we told ourselves to go out and give it a hundred percent."

Ridge dominated play for nearly the entire game, but they really came out with a sense of urgency and aggression in the first period that they haven't displayed thus far this season.

"I thought we've played pretty hard," said Ridge senior captain and defenseman Sam Sisco. "I thought we were more fired up after the loss last night (to Montgomery) and beat Bridgewater," he added.

Sophomore forward Tom Carpenter got the scoring going just 1:27 into the game, with an assist from fellow sophomore forward Oliver Peloso. Six different Red Devils netted goals, including Hotz and Carpenter, with Eric von der Linde, Sam Sisco, Joe Madden and Zach Fischl adding the others. Sophomore forward Keith Knapp had a pair of assists.

"They (offense) really started to put it together and finally put the puck in the net, said Sisco. "We haven't had a game where every line could put the puck in the net, and this is was our game we got every line to score."

Ridge led 2-0 after the first period and 5-1 after the second, but they never let up intensity.

"Montgomery was real physical last night, and I feel like that forced us to come out tonight and be more physical," Sisco explained. "I definitely think it gave us a leg up in the defensive end.''

"Before the game we told ourselves to go out there and give it our all, from start to finish," Hotz added.

With the conference schedule well under way, and now with a pair of wins under their belts, Hotz thinks his team is headed in the right direction.

"Losing 14 seniors is hard so it's very good to get these wins as much as possible," he explained. "This home win showed we can control the puck and go against any team in the conference - I feel it will start our season."

GAME LINE                                    1     2     3     F

BRIDGEWATER-RARITAN    0     1     0       1

RIDGE (2-3)                                    2     3     1       6

First Period: R -- Carpenter (Peloso), Hotz (Knapp).

Second Period: BR -- McWain (Monahan); R -- von der Linde (Knapp and Hotz), Sisco (Hotz), Madden.

Third Period: R -- Fischl.

Game Totals: Shots -- Ridge 31-29; Saves -- BR: Haggerty 25; R: Wells 28.