Girls lacrosse: Ridgewood and Northern Highlands will meet again in Bergen County final
Northern Highlands will try to do the unthinkable this weekend.
Find a new home for the Bergen County girls lacrosse title.
The Highlanders earned a trip back to the BCWCA final and will face Ridgewood in the championship game at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Ridgewood High School. Abby Henderson and Meghan Rourke had matching hat tricks on Thursday as Northern Highlands rolled past rival Ramapo, 9-5, in Allendale.
It sets up a David vs. Goliath matchup between a Ridgewood program that's won all 16 titles and a young Northern Highlands lineup that's re-establishing itself with the elite. The top two seeds have been on a collision course for most of the season.
"They move the ball really well," Northern Highlands coach Michael Menzella said. "You watch them move and it's like watching a college lacrosse team. They don't drop balls. They play hard. So it is one of the more impressive teams I've actually seen."
Ridgewood lived up to its reputation Thursday by polishing off Immaculate Heart, 18-5, in the other semifinal. Maroon coach Liz Henky raved about the fact that seven players got on the scoresheet including Merrill Klein with a career-high five goals.
Henky made three trips to the final while at IHA, most notably the 2008 game that went to triple overtime. A win on Saturday would make her the third coach to hoist the Bergen County title alongside Karla Mixon (14 titles) and Crysti Foote (two).
"Every day they work so hard to get there," Henky said. "So I'm proud of them and proud to be a part of it."
Each team knows very well what it is up against. The league rivals met a little over a week ago with Ridgewood doubling up Northern Highlands, 18-9, at home. It's the closest any North Jersey team has come to the Maroons this season.
Menzella conceded that while Ridgewood is extremely talented, his team didn't help its cause with a slow start in the regular season matchup. So the day after the loss, Menzella brought his players in to re-watch the first half and go over what had to change. The Highlanders planned another film session on Friday.
"A mistake is only a mistake if you can learn from it and move on and move forward," Menzella said. "Hopefully they do."
Northern lights
Northern Highlands (9-4) broke through to the final with a strong defensive effort against Ramapo.
Goalie Ava Paparozzi collected nine saves and held the Raiders to only one goal in the first 30 minutes. Ava Kearl controlled the draw to give the Highlanders their third championship appearance and the first since 2015.
"I think we have seven players on offense who can catch and throw and seven on defense who can get their hands on a body and stop them," Rourke said. "It's all the hustle."
Northern Highlands had a much easier time Thursday after needing overtime to beat Ramapo in the previous matchup.
That begs the question: what was different in the rematch?
"First off all, the weather," said Rourke, who doubles as a state medalist in swimming. "Last time, it was raining pretty bad."
The Highlanders also benefited from home field advantage, as well as a dialed in Carly Simmel. Simmel held Ramapo star Lexie Wolfe to a single goal: a last-minute strike with the score out of reach. A tight faceguard kept the ball away from the player who accounts for nearly half the Raiders offense.
"I think we have the drive," Simmel said. "Everyone wants it. The coaches. The players. Everyone on the staff wants it because we feel like we have something special."
No sweat
Ridgewood (12-2) took care of business on Thursday by building a nine-goal lead at the half and starting a running clock soon after the break.
Nina Marra finished with four goals and Isabella Winn added three for the consistently deep Maroons.
"That's always the goal of ours, to have a lot of different scorers," Henky said. "It's not just one or two kids. We're achieving that goal. That's what I'm most proud of: that we're unselfish."
Sean Farrell is a high school sports reporter for NorthJersey.com. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis from our Varsity Aces team, subscribe today. To get breaking news directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter and download our app.
Email: farrells@northjersey.com
Twitter: @seanfarrell92
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Girls lacrosse: Ridgewood, Northern Highlands reach Bergen County final
