Part I of the Bergen County Tournament preview can be found here.
North Jersey Points Leaders through April 27 games, click here.
The Northern Highlands Bracket
No. 3 Northern Highlands (14-0) vs. No. 14 Ramsey (4-6), Friday, 5:00 p.m.
Northern Highlands continues to steamroll everyone in its path. The Highlanders, now 14-0, are averaging 16.3 goals per game, allowing just 4.2 goals per game and have won every game aside from two (Watchung Hills, Saddle River Day) by double-digits — and the two others were by nine. They already have wins over Mahwah, Ramapo, SRD, Glen Rock and Holy Angels this year and the matchup everyone seems to be waiting for is Highlands vs. IHA in the county semifinals — and then potentially a showdown with Ridgewood. Highlands has given every opponent they have faced this season nightmares offensively, with three of North Jersey’s top eight leading scorers in Julia Bradbury (71 goals, 34 assists), Julia Pash (25 goals, 46 assists) and Julia Corriston (46 goals, 35 assists) and a fourth option, Katelyn Ewell, who has struck for another 28 goals and nine assists in Highlands’ high-powered attack. And the unselfishness of Eleanor Hagan, a Bucknell-bound senior, has led the Highlands’ oftentimes dominant defense along with fellow defenders Gabby Pappas, Melina North and Grace Travers and sophomore goalie Victoria Marino (58 goals allowed, 56.7 save percentage). Hagan, who scored 55 goals as a midfielder last year, moved back to her more natural position (where she plans to play in college) for the betterment of the team. Highlands will see Ramsey in Round 1, with the first-year program entering in a bit of a funk (1-4 in last five games) after a 3-2 start. With a team made up of almost entirely sophomores, the Rams have six players with over 20 points already, including Bridget Bohmert (25 G, 9 A), Rhiannon Brown (25 G, 3 A), Reece Levine (24 G, 2 A), Erica Lis (18 G, 6 A), Maddie Cheyne (10 G, 12 A) and Mary Pless (11 G, 10 A).
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No. 6 Saddle River Day (9-2) vs. No. 11 Waldwick (7-3), Thursday, 4:15 p.m.
Saddle River Day’s résumé is identical to Glen Rock’s — a record of 9-2 with both losses coming against IHA and Northern Highlands. A win against Waldwick would likely earn the Rebels a rematch against Northern Highlands in the quarterfinals (Highlands won the first contest, 13-4). The Rebels have two of the most dangerous and talented scorers in North Jersey in junior Daniella McMahon (41 G, 27 A) and freshman sister Michaela McMahon (47 G, 15 A) and a strong third option in freshman Alexa Tsahalis (25 G, 6 A). In addition to finding the net, Daniella McMahon has developed a trust with her sister and Tsahalis, which has led to a career-high assist total through just 11 games. In just its third year, Saddle River Day continues improving its county tournament seed, going from a 16-seed in 2013 to a 7-seed last year and now a 6-seed. They’ll take on upset-minded Waldwick in Round 1, with the Warriors entering at 7-3, but all three losses have been within two (against Paramus, Lakeland and River Dell). Junior Morgan Sinton has headlined the offense all year with 33 goals and 19 assists and senior Carly Thomson has provided eight goals and nine assists during the Warriors’ latest three-game winning streak. Thomson is second on the team in points, with 18 goals and 18 assists. Senior Michaela Peterson has added 17 goals and four assists and senior goalie Liana Chirichiello has allowed just 61 goals on the year and owns a 6.78 goals against average.
The Mahwah Bracket
No. 4 Mahwah (7-2) vs. No. 13 Holy Angels (7-6), Friday, 5:00 p.m.
The Thunderbirds are flying a bit under the radar entering the tournament, having only played nine games so far (with losses to Highlands and Morristown). But they’ll have a great test — and tournament warm-up — today when they take on Ramapo. If both teams advance in Round 1, they’ll meet again in the county quarterfinals next week. Mahwah has reached the BCT semifinals in each of the last four years and are led this season by Taylor Herrmann (28 G, 20 A) and Kelly Pushie (37 G, 11 A) along with several other key contributors include Casey Feeney, Erin Jaffe, Nicole Costantino, Caelie Batelli, Brianna Spencer, Brenna Jaffe and Taylor Jaffe. Holy Angels has been hovering around .500 all season and have played a pretty tough schedule (losses to Waldwick, Lakeland, Glen Rock, Paramus, River Dell, Highlands) and they’ve stayed competitive with everyone aside from Highlands. The Angels have North Jersey’s third-leading scorer in Danielle Stephens (51 goals, 34 assists) and two others — Melanie Welch (32 G, 10 A) and Devin Toolen (26 G, 8 A) — that have shown the ability to find the net.
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No. 5 Ramapo (8-3) vs. No. 12 Indian Hills (5-7), Saturday, 5:30 p.m.
Rivalry and a rematch. Ramapo has won six in a row and seven of its last eight (only loss to Highlands in that time), but has not played since April 22. They’ll get Mahwah today — and Newark Academy on Thursday — before hosting rival Indian Hills in the first round of the BCT. Like Glen Rock/River Dell, this, too, will be a rematch of a good earlier-season game, won by Ramapo, 12-10, back on April 4. Sophomore Danielle Van Calcar scored seven in that one and continues to rank high among North Jersey’s leaders in points, with 87 (61 G, 26 A). Senior Anna Powers has provided 16 goals and 15 assists and senior Reilly Garner has added 20 goals and nine assists — and struck for a hat trick in the first meeting against Indian Hills. Aly LoPresti has added 12 goals for Ramapo. Indian Hills’ 5-7 record is a bit misleading and the Braves seem to be a little bit underseeded considering they played Ramapo close and defeated Lakeland, 14-6. They have losses to Ridgewood (undefeated at 11-0), IHA (8-4), Verona (9-2), Roxbury (9-2) and Montclair (12-2)… so, the schedule has been tough. Junior Tricia Thaler leads the Braves in scoring with 21 goals and six assists and freshman Ann Wray, senior Jayme O’Connor, freshman Allie Bremer and senior Kelly Pepper have all supplied scoring on a young Indian Hills squad.