Glen Ridge Starts Quickly Again
In Roaring To South, Group 1 Title

WEST CALDWELL- It is a young team that may have taken a while to get going this season, but as the biggest games of the year are front and present, Glen Ridge is on a tear spurred on by getting off to a quick start, especially in two recent monumental victories including Tuesday night’s 7-4 win over Caldwell in the NJSIAA South, Group 1 state sectional final at Bonnel Field.

 

Following up on its stunning 9-8 overtime win at 15th-ranked Rumson-Fair Haven in last Thursday’s South 1 semifinals when it jumped out to early lead, the fifth-seeded Ridgers did it again, even at a more emphatic extent this time in assuming a commanding 6-1 halftime advantage vs. the second-seeded Chiefs which was simply too much to overcome.

 

With its latest triumph, red-hot Glen Ridge (15-8), which has won eight of its last nine games, now faces perennial championship contender Mountain Lakes, the North, Group 1 champion, in the overall Group 1 state final set for 7 p.m. Friday (June 13) at Ridge High School..

 

The Ridgers came out from the start Tuesday night with enormous energy and controlled the ball for much of the game’s first five minutes before junior attackman Stephen Grober, who had the game-winning goal at Rumson-Fair Haven when he scored with just four seconds left in overtime, put Glen Ridge on the board first at Caldwell with 7:32 left in the first quarter to conclude a long possession for a 1-0 lead.

 

The Chiefs (12-10) would tie matters, 1-1, as Jordan Gruzas fired home a goal with 5:52 still showing in the first quarter.

 

But, then it was all Glen Ridge, beginning with senior attackman Connor Sutton scoring his first of two goals on the night for a 2-1 lead with 2:35 left in the quarter.

 

Then, the onslaught ensued in a 4-0 second quarter run by the Ridgers as junior midfielder J.P. Labadia began the run with 10:50 remaining in the stanza to make it 3-1 and then followed by goals from Sutton (with 5:14 left in the second quarter), junior attackman Carson Ross with 3:44 still showing, and then capped off by Ross once again finding the back of the net for a 6-1 lead with just 1:51 left in the half.

 

A quick start by the Ridgers would prove decisive, even with a whole ‘nother half of lacrosse still to go.

 

“In this playoff run, we’ve been getting off to hot starts, and that’s been the big thing for us in getting these huge wins,” said Sutton, who has 45 goals on the season with his pair of scores vs. the Chiefs. “It’s important to get up in these games because we know that it’s going to be a grind, so hit them first, and that’s definitely going to help us in the end when we all get tired.”

 

And Caldwell would have more of an offensive push in the third quarter as sophomore midfielder Jeremy Rodriguez scored with 10:27 left, and then with 6:19 still showing in the third to pull the Chiefs to within 6-3.

 

As the more defensive-minded second half continued for Glen Ridge, it did add an important seventh goal for a little more breathing room to start the fourth quarter as senior midfielder Brad Foster scored with 9:52 remaining for a 7-3 lead.

 

Caldwell closed the scoring with 8:09 left on a second goal of the contest by Gruzas, and the Ridgers defense and time-consuming possessions closed it out in comfortable fashion as the minutes and seconds ticked away before the visitors could celebrate under the picturesque cloudy skies with glimmers of light as a torrential rain was on the way during the end of the post-game on the field.

 

First-year head coach Anthony Sicoli, who had been former, longtime coach Carl Houser’s defensive coordinator the previous six years, is a lacrosse aficionado and jiu jitsu devotee, so as he described his team’s ability possess, pass with proficiency, score with enough frequency, and continue to win, he referred to both his favorite sports.

 

“A quick start is always the plan, but it doesn’t always happen that way,” he said. “We look to do that and then, tap, tap, tap, which is just spinning (the ball) around and using the clock, and tapping out, like I do in jiu jitsu, and it worked out for us tonight.

 

“Our transition was working and maybe our offense caught them by surprise. I’m proud of my boys, but it was still a tight game and Caldwell is a great squad. Their coach and players are outstanding and they made it a game.”

 

It’s been a gradual progression for Glen Ridge to be able to assume this position in the late-season’s critical state tourney games, and it wasn’t always an easy process for a team that lost five of its first six games out of the gate this spring.

 

“We learned a whole lot of lessons this year the hard way and made a lot of mistakes, both on and off the field, including after-the-whistle stuff, and because of that we’ve learned a great deal together and are playing well now,” continued Sicoli. “But, we’re by no means done yet!”

 

The players, led by senior quad captains in defenseman Cam Atkinson, midfielders Ryan Mansfield and Foster, defenseman Mason Giamo and attackman Sutton, have come together in a more cohesive and productive fashion over time from April through a hot streak in May and now in the midst of a crescendo in June.

 

“When we had that rough start to the season the captains called team-only meetings and we discussed what we wanted as a team,” said Sutton. “We then really started to believe in a plan and an approach that worked for the entire team, and we stuck to it which brings us now to this point as we eye an opportunity to win a state championship.”

 

For Sicoli, who played attack at Kinnelon High School before embarking on a college lacrosse career as a long-stick middie at Rutgers, remembers facing the great Mountain Lakes teams of longtime coach Tim Flynn, and knows that his team will face some real challenges in the ultimate round of this very eventful 2025 Group 1 state tournament journey for the Ridgers.

 

“I sat next to coach Flynn the other day and I’ve always respected the great man he is and the outstanding program he has,” said the Glen Ridge rookie head mentor. “We’re going to go into the state final looking to do what we do best.

 

“And, we definitely feel that we’re not done yet!”  

 

NOTES- Glen Ridge’s news defensive coordinator is veteran assistant coach Ed Adeogun who Sicoli credits with putting together a lot of the team’s formula for success in stopping the opposition…The Ridgers’ veteran middie Foster, who is headed to Indiana University in the fall as a student only, was also a standout on the Group 1 school’s football team last fall while making the successful transition from wide receiver as a junior to starting quarterback for coach Chris Strumolo’s gridiron squad which reached the state playoffs in 2024…former Caldwell coach John Timan, who retired last summer after starting the Chiefs lacrosse program in 2004, was on hand to watch Tuesday night’s game with his former standout player Nick Esposito, a 2005 JCHS graduate, now directing the Caldwell laxmen....The Ridgers received an excellent performance in goal from sophomore Keiller Goodwin who recorded 15 saves with many difficult ones in the mix.

 

 

 

 

Goals: For Glen Ridge- Connor Sutton-2, Carson Ross-2, Stephen Grober-1, J.P. Labadai-1, Brad Foster-1 Caldwell- Jordan Gruzas-2 Jeremy Rodriguez-2 Assists: GR- Jimmy Benson-2, Sutton-1, Giamo-1 Grober-1

Goalies: Glen Ridge- Keiller Goodwin- 15 saves Caldwell- Jacob Natt-6