http://montclairtimes.nj.newsmemory.com/

Special to North Jersey Record USA TODAY NETWORK - NEW JERSEY

VERONA - Montclair High knew that it was a heavy underdog entering this past Saturday’s Essex County tournament final versus a top-seeded and twitime defending champion Glen Ridge team it had lost to, 14-5, in a recent regular- season match. However, with strong preparation - including an effective game plan plus a spirited effort the second-seeded Mounties proved more than a worthy opponent for the Ridgers, who finally broke the deadlock for good in the final eight minutes en route to a hard-fought 11-9 championship victory.

Glen Ridge has now won three straight ECT crowns and six overall in the 14-year history of the event, with all its titles coming since 2010.

For second-seeded MHS (8-6), which had survived a memorable fiveovertime contest to defeat West Essex in the semifinals, it marked the school’s third county final in the last four years, a time period that includes the Mounties’ only title in 2015.

This past weekend’s championship match at Verona High School’s Sellitto Field turned out to be a stark difference from the April 20 game when the Ridgers simply dominated MHS.

“What a battle and a totally different game than our previous meeting with them this season,” said Susan Murnick, the Mounties’ longtime assistant who was standing in as head coach for the day as Ann Jennings attended her son Zach’s Penn State University graduation. “Our girls came in psyched and pumped up, worked hard and implemented effectively the different strategies that we went over in practice, executing them really well and working well as a team throughout the game.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the effort our girls gave out there in a game that was really up for grabs for the longest time before Glen Ridge finally pulled out the victory.”

Sophomore Abby Romano’s third of her team-high four goals tied the score for the final time at 8 with 8:38 left in the second half before the Ridgers took the lead for good as their junior co-captain Jenny Lisovicz scored a minute later.

Glen Ridge’s sophomore star Gretchen Gilmore, who was closely guarded throughout, scored four goals for the victors - including a key insurance tally with 6:44 remaining to give her team a 10-8 lead.

“We knew that Montclair was going to want it as much as we did or even more and they did a good job of faceguarding a couple of us, but our team is good at setting picks for others and we finally stepped up in the second half,” said Gilmore, who also had five goals in the Ridgers’ regular-season win versus MHS. “Montclair gave us a great game and you have to give them loads of cred-

it for being very well prepared to give us an absolute battle throughout.”

The Mounties’ senior star midfielder Nora Giordano, who became the school’s all-time leading scorer and had three goals and two assists in the final, had given MHS a 7-6 lead with two straight goals. The second one came in the flurry with just under 22 minutes left in the second half.

However, with two goals apiece from Gilmore and Lisovicz down the stetch, the young Ridgers were on their way to a hard-fought win.

“It’s been one of those seasons where we have had to fight for everything because we’re a really young team with only one senior and a ton of sophomores on that field,” said Glen Ridge coach Beth Larkin, a former Mountie standout player and former coach at both MHS and Montclair Kimberley Academy. “Maybe the big stage got us a little rattled, but give Montclair loads of credit because they certainly had a great game plan against us.

“It took us a little while to calm down and not worry about making the big shot, but just making the right shot and our girls responded in the second half with a real good effort to help us win our third title in a row.”

In addition to Romano’s four goals and three from Giordano, sophomore Yael Gelman added two goals, and junior Ciara Butler and sophomore Nanette- Rose Walls-Tarver each had assists.

Mounties senior goalie Olivia Lynch made 11 saves in a splendid effort protecting the net. “This county final was a game played the way it should be,” said Murnick. “As I told our girls, ‘You proved you belong here!' ”