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Seton Hall Prep, with standouts such as junior midfielder Nolan Sabel (5), has received the No. 1 seed in the 2024 Essex County Boys Lacrosse Tournament field, while Glen Ridge, under the guidance of longtime coach Beth Larkin, is the top seed in ECT's girls field. (Photos by PJ Candido/SHP and Gene Nann)
The likelihood is that both teams will be at Sellitto Field in Verona on Saturday afternoon, May 11, for their respective boys and girls Essex County Tournament finals. After all, based on their results and the rigorous schedules each has faced, the Seton Hall Prep laxmen (5-5) and the Glen Ridge laxladies (7-4) are more than ready to live up to their advanced billing as the No. 1 seeds in their 2024 ECT fields. The ECT for the boys will go Saturday (first round), Tuesday (quarterfinals), Thursday (semis) and then the championship game 2:30 p.m., May 11th, at Verona, while the girls are scheduled to play Saturday, Monday, Wednesday and then 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, the 11th, following the completion of the boys final. And, even with the fact that each top team in Essex has been facing as formidable a slate of foes as any teams in their sport in the Garden State scholastic lacrosse circles, winning a county tournament championship still means a great deal. “Winning another ECT title is one of our goals, no doubt about it,” said SHP junior midfielder Nolan Sabel after his team’s recent regular season 12-3 triumph over Caldwell, a team now seeded second behind the Pirates in the latest countywide lax event. “We’re just working hard each day now to keep playing better together and be ready for the biggest games in May.” Glen Ridge, under the guidance of longtime coach Beth Larkin, plays in a strong Northern New Jersey Girls Lacrosse League’s Stars & Stripes White Division and has dominated the three Essex County teams (West Essex, Verona and Caldwell) that it has faced so far in regular season action. The Ridgers’ losses have been to a quartet of state-ranked teams in the state’s best girls lacrosse division, the Stars & Stripes Red in No. 1 ranked Morristown (16-9 setback), No. 7 Ridgewood (14-10), No. 10 Chatham (12-10) and No. 17 Mendham (10-9). Those four defeats lend credence to the assertion that Larkin’s laxladies are more than ready for whatever they may face in the next week when it comes to the ECT. Glen Ridge, which won four straight ECT crowns from 2016-2019, has a very young team that is led by junior attackers Katie Powers (39 goals and 49 assists along with 70 draw controls) and Campbell Spillett (59 goals, 4 assists), sophomore attacker Addison Townson (25 goals, 6 assists) and sophomore midfielder Grace Sutton (15 goals, 4 assists, 40 ground balls and 48 draw controls). The Ridgers lost to eventual champion West Essex in the ECT semis last season as the Knights went on to capture a third straight crown with a 12-6 victory over Montclair. The Mounties, based off a dramatic 9-8, 5-overtime triumph over crosstown neighbor Montclair Kimberley Academy, received the No. 2 seed in this year’s ECT with the Cougars No. 3 and West Essex No. 4 despite having a rough season to date with a 2-8 record. The ECT boys bracket sees No. 1 SHP seeking an 11th straight county tourney championship and 14th overall crown while looking to make it an 18th appearance in the final in the 20th year of the lax event. The Pirates edged second-seeded Caldwell, 4-3, in last year’s final, clinching the victory with current senior attackman Tyler Juhlin’s goal with just 4:38 remaining. SHP is led by Holy Cross-bound Juhlin (18 goals, 6 assists) along with fellow senior attackmen Christian Schweiger (13 goals and 11 assists and Air Force Academy commit) and Brad Schuster (13 goals, University of Utah) along with junior middie Sabel (13 goals, 20 assists) and senior defenseman Patrick Quinn (Drexel), who has an impressive total of 53 ground balls through 10 games. The No. 7 ranked Pirates have three out-of-state defeats and also lost to No. 4 Westfield, 10-9, and No. 10 Summit, 4-1, but continue to play strong lacrosse of late, including a dramatic 9-8 double-overtime triumph over Non-Public A rival and No. 9 ranked Delbarton on Saturday, April 27. Caldwell (11-1), ranked 15th in the state, has a superb senior goalie in Landon Pini, who has a tremendous save-goals allowed ratio of 130 and 56, while Chiefs' offense is led by dangerous Bates College-bound senior attackman Jack Goldbach (22 goals 21 assists). Montclair received the No. 3 seed while Glen Ridge is No. 4 in the 12-team field. Follow Steve Tober on 'X' (Twitter) @Chattermeister
Seton Hall Prep's Patrick Quinn (34), one of the state's top defenseman, does his stellar work during win vs. Caldwell. (Photo by PJ Candido/SHP) copyright 2005 Sideline Chatter - to comment contact the webmaster
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