The 2026 Essex County Tournament has taken center stage for the moment; however, what stands out the most looking forward is the clear vision that the top conference in the state – Super Essex – where the ECT champion will of course come from – could also once again produce four of the six group state champions come early November.
The state’s top public school, defending Group 4 champion West Orange (11-1), with arguably the premier defense among Garden State scholastic soccer sides, is the No. 2 seed behind No. 1 St. Benedict’s Prep (9-0-1) in the ECT and the two top-tier squads are also assuming those rankings statewide.
Add in No. 11 ranked and fourth-seeded Montclair Kimberley Academy (5-3-2) and a perhaps under-appreciated fifth-seeded Glen Ridge (5-4) and you could have the respective and repeat Group 4, Non-Public A, Non-Public B and Group 1 state champs.
The ECT, which seeded its field on Wednesday, Oct. 7, will be highlighted by the semifinals on Saturday, Oct. 24, at West Orange, and the championship match, 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 28, preceding the ECT girls final, at Caldwell’s Bonnel Field.
West Orange dropped a 1-0 decision to St. Benedict’s in last year’s ECT title tilt as the Gray Bees’ Nathaniel Addo scored the only goal of the match with just 52 seconds remaining in regulation.
The Mountaineers’ first-string defense has allowed just one goal so far this fall and that goal came in another 1-0 setback to the very formidable Gray Bees in their regular season SEC-American Division showdown.
A projected ECT final would figure to be another West Orange-St. Benedict’s showdown although teams such as 3-Seton Hall Prep (8-4), 4-MKA and 5-Glen Ridge will look to offset that seemingly logical matchup to project in the 2026 countywide tourney championship match.
“St. Benedict’s is at such a high level and they are certainly one of those teams that you can play great against and still lose,” said veteran West Orange coach Doug Nevins. “I thought we had an even first half with them in our match this season, and then they were the better team after that.
“It’s not fun playing the best team in the country, and it is both challenging and frustrating as your team tries to execute things you normally do.
“Their pace and ability level is just different, and the drop-off after playing them can be a massive difference.
“With that being said, we have really good teams in our county. We’re hoping that our schedule in and out of the SEC will help get us ready to make another deep run in Group 4 and that should be the same story for MKA (in Non-Public B) and Glen Ridge (in Group 1).
“MKA, with Gustavo Rosen, Solomon Lucas and CJ Deke have some great attackers, Max Fleischer is a fantastic player at Glen Ridge and they can really defend, which is going to make them really tough teams to beat in their state tournaments, and while Seton Hall Prep has a number of great teams in their section (Non-Public, North A), they do have an incredible goalie (Cornell University-bound senior Liam Collins) who teams have to deal with.”
As far as West Orange goes, the Mountaineers perhaps appear just as strong as last fall’s 24-2 squad that dominated in rolling to a Group 4 state championship. Gone are All-American National Player of the Year Marcus Jackson (UCLA) and steady Carl Hall, but the 2026 team returns plenty of talent, headed by its stellar defense anchored by 4-year starting goalkeeper in senior quad captain Agustin Arrieta.
