Ridgewood girls lacrosse wins first Montegari Bowl on a milestone day for its super senior

RIDGEWOOD – The story before the game was the coaching battle between a husband and wife.

The story by the end was the unstoppable march to history by Ridgewood senior Lindsey Devir.

The Stanford commit scored eight goals including the 200th of her career to spring the top-ranked Maroons past No. 3 Immaculate Heart, 10-3, on a steamy Thursday afternoon.

Devir is only the third Ridgewood girls lacrosse player to reach the milestone along with Jackie Wolak (317) and Kelci Smesko (293). She's done it with a fearless style of play while running through the toughest division in North Jersey. What makes it even more impressive is that the middie was not able to rack up stats as a freshman with COVID wiping out the entire season.

"Most of my goals today were assists from other people," Devir said. "So I'm only one person. I credit it all to my teammates and how much they help me."

Devir, who finished the day with 202 goals, reached the milestone less than two minutes into the second half on a wraparound near the left post.

There was little reaction after the play, mostly because Devir had no idea about the achievement until well after the game. She has much bigger things in mind after falling one win short of a sectional title in back-to-back years.

"She does it all," Ridgewood coach Jim Montegari said. "On the field. Off the field. Motivating the team. Fighting for ground balls. She's about the team. She's even talking to me about the future of the program. She's all about the program."

Family faceoff

The Ridgewood program is in new hands this year with Montegari taking over his alma mater. This was his first regular season game against his wife, IHA coach Sue Montegari.

"I intentionally spent less time away from the middle of the field than I normally do," Montegari said.

While the Montegaris tried to keep the focus on the field, it was hard to miss the cousins, uncles and other relatives on hand in Ridgewood. Their son James was even called into action to keep the Blue Eagles statbook. Other family members watched from home on the live stream.

"You know what? I'll find out [how it went] in 20 minutes when I talk to her after the game," Jim said. "I thought it was nice. Sue is a great coach. She's been doing this longer than me. I just happen to be on the winning side today."

Inside the win

Ridgewood (3-1) turned up the intensity on the defensive side, allowing only three shots on goal and none in the first 13 minutes. The Blue Eagles were often forced to move the ball side-to-side or backward because of a stifling ride that made it hard to cross the midline.

Immaculate Heart goalie Sophie Rowell made 14 saves in a valiant effort in the loss.

"We normally play with a word and our word was support," Devir said, noting that the team dedicated the game to mental health awareness group Morgan's Message.

"The girls were talking and we got in the right spot to make the right plays," Jim Montegari said. "[Immaculate Heart] had three goals and two of them were on eight-meters."

Katie Adams and Grace Sullivan both got on the scoreboard early to send the Maroons to the break with a five-goal cushion. Both are freshmen for an unusually young Ridgewood team that starts seven underclassmen.

"It's a great experience and I've made so many new friends," Sullivan said. "I like the challenge and I like how I'm playing better girls than me. That makes me better as a player."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Ridgewood girls lacrosse wins Montegari Bowl on senior's milestone day