Ridgewood girls lacrosse, shown here celebrating its 10th straight county title last season, will be the expected No. 1 seed again at Sunday’s tournament seeding meeting.
Selection Sunday for the Bergen County girls lacrosse tournament is just days away, with several teams still jostling for position before the seeding meeting. I had originally thought that the tournament would be seeded using laxpower.com rankings and there wouldn’t be much suspense involved, but that is not the case, according to tournament director and Glen Rock coach Taryn Tabano. The tournament field will be set according to a compilation of coaches votes (Tabano does not vote). A lot of sports in North Jersey have done away with human element seeding for county tournaments (including the boys lacrosse BCT, which will go by laxpower.com), opting to instead go with power points and computer rankings. I like this way better. Tabano said she intended to set a field of just 16 teams, but with the sport growing like crazy (21 teams in Bergen County… all of which can send in a form to enter), there may be some play-in games to finalize the Round of 16. I could see the Top 19 teams wanting in, but wouldn’t be surprised if all 21 entered.
I always like trying to guess the seeds perfectly… so here’s my attempt at it. Keep in mind, these are just my thoughts and are absolutely not official. And we still have three days worth of games left to be played before Sunday’s meeting, so teams can help themselves — or hurt themselves — in that time.
On to the BCT Bracketology…
| Bergen County Girls Lacrosse Bracketology as of April 23 | |||
| How I’d seed ‘em… | |||
| Seed | Team | Record | Résumé Notes |
| 1 | Ridgewood | 10-0 | 10-time defending champs will be the no doubt top seed; Ws over Oak Knoll, Summit, Mtn. Lakes, Chatham |
| 2 | Immaculate Heart | 6-4 | Tough schedule; double-digit wins vs. SRD, IH & G-Rock; Ls vs. Glen Ridge, Westfield, Mtn. Lakes, Oak Knoll |
| 3 | Northern Highlands | 11-0 | 13-3 W vs. MAH; Compelling case for 2-seed, shouldn’t end up mattering; potentially would see IHA in semis anyway |
| 4 | Mahwah | 7-2 | Only Ls to No. Highlands & Morristown; 6 of 7 Ws by double-digits |
| 5 | Ramapo | 8-3 | 7-1 in last 8 games, only L to Highlands; Local Ws include Ind. Hills, Wayne Hills, Lakeland |
| 6 | Saddle River Day | 9-2 | Only Ls to IHA & Highlands; Local Ws over Pascack Val. and Lakeland |
| 7 | Glen Rock | 7-1 | Only L is to IHA. Biggest W vs. River Dell in OT; also beat Holy Angels by 7 |
| 8 | Indian Hills | 4-5 | Ls vs. RW, IHA, Randolph, ‘Po, Verona; Just beat Lakeland; Better team than record indicates; tough schedule |
| 9 | Paramus | 8-0 | 1 of 3 remaining undefeated teams; Key Ws over River Dell & Waldwick (both by 1); Also beat Wayne Valley |
| 10 | River Dell | 7-2 | Only Ls to G-Rock & Paramus; Big W vs. Waldwick; Also beat Holy Angels |
| 11 | Waldwick | 5-3 | Best Ws are over AHA & Wayne Valley; competitive L vs. RD; Also close Ls vs. Paramus & Lakeland |
| 12 | Holy Angels | 6-5 | Ls to Waldwick, G-Rock, PAR, RD & Lakeland; Best Ws vs. Old Tappan, Bergen Tech & Westwood |
| 13 | Pascack Valley | 4-4 | All 4 Ls to teams above .500 (Lakeland, Roxbury, SRD, Mahwah); close Ls vs. LL & SRD |
| 14 | Old Tappan | 6-2 | Best W is vs. Pascack Hills; Also has Ws over Wayne Valley & Westwood; Does have a L to Ramsey |
| 15 | Pascack Hills | 6-2 | L to Old Tappan keeps them behind OT; Ws vs. Ramsey, & DEM; Big game vs. PAR today to potentially improve seed |
| 16 | Bergen Tech | 5-3 | Ls vs. Paramus, AHA & Wayne Valley; Best Ws vs. Ramsey and Demarest |
| 17 | Demarest | 2-5 | Ls vs. River Dell, B-Tech, G-Rock, Paramus, Pascack Hills; Beat Westwood & Fair Lawn |
| 18 | Westwood | 4-5 | L to Demarest by 2; Beat Ramsey by 5… Played Holy Angels tough (lost by 3) |
| 19 | Ramsey | 4-6 | Signature W is vs. Old Tappan, but also has Ls to Pascack Hills (by 1), B-Tech & Westwood |
| 20 | Dwight-Englewood | 1-6 | W vs. Fair Lawn, 12-4 |
| 21 | Fair Lawn | 2-7 | L vs. Dwight-Englewood, 12-4 |
No surprise at the top, as 10-time defending Bergen County champion Ridgewood, led by senior Jordan Ford, junior Katie Borque and a terrific sophomore class including Hannah Cermack and Alex Absey, will grab the No. 1 spot — and will no matter the outcome Saturday against Moorestown — a team that has won 86 straight games.
At No. 2, we’ll go with Immaculate Heart, though Northern Highlands — at 11-0 and likely 13-0 at Sunday’s meeting — certainly has a case to be this year’s 2-seed. IHA, though, has reached seven straight county finals and its tough regular season schedule in the Stars & Stripes Division should be rewarded. Josie Zinn has posted 10 goals and four assists in IHA’s last three games (and has a team-best 18 assists), while Sam Marmo (24 G) and Gabriella Vinci (23 G) are the Blue Eagles’ top two goal scorers.
Northern Highlands, coming off a 20-7 win over Morristown-Beard on Wednesday where Julia Bradbury (7 G, 1 A), Julia Corriston (3 G, 7 A) and Julia Pash (3 G, 5 A) combined for 26 points, will be a no-doubt Top 3 seed, thanks to its 13-3 win over Mahwah earlier this year. If IHA and Highlands (currently 11-0) occupy the 2- and 3-seeds, the possible semifinal matchup between the two teams would have the potential to be the game of the tournament.
Mahwah, currently at 7-2 with only losses to Northern Highlands and Morristown on Wednesday, should get the 4-seed. In Wednesday’s 8-3 loss to Motown, Kelly Pushie scored her 100th career goal. Her and Taylor Herrmann give the Thunderbirds one of the best 1-2 scoring punches in the county. Mahwah has reached the BCT semifinals in each of the last four years.
After the Big Four (Ridgewood, Highlands, Mahwah, IHA), Ramapo should remain securely in the No. 5 slot. They’ll see Mahwah in an interesting contest on April 28, though that will happen after the BCT seeding meeting. That game vs. Mahwah could serve as a potential quarterfinal preview, with the two teams potentially meeting in the 4/5 game in the tournament. Ramapo, of course, has North Jersey’s leading scorer in Danielle Van Calcar (61 G, 26 A) and is 7-1 in its last eight games. The best wins in that stretch have been against Indian Hills and Lakeland.
Third-year program Saddle River Day should come next. The Rebels, led by junior Daniella McMahon and a pair of freshmen in Michaela McMahon and Alexa Tsahalis, have lost only to IHA and Northern Highlands. If they grab the 6-seed (and Highlands grabs the 3 seed), they would potentially see Highlands again in the BCT quarters (Highlands won the first matchup, 13-4). SRD has local victories over Pascack Valley and Lakeland and overtime wins against New Providence and Cranford.
After winning just one game last year after being ravaged by injury, Glen Rock is in position for a No. 7 seed led by McGara Dewan, Caitlin Callahan and Killeen McDonald. The Panthers’ most important win of the year came last week by knocking off River Dell, 14-11, in overtime. They’ve also beaten Holy Angels and Vernon (6-6) and have only lost to IHA.
Things could start to get tricky for the No. 8 seed between Indian Hills and Paramus. Indian Hills is 4-5… Paramus is 8-0. But like the situation near the top of the bracket, with IHA and Highlands, it really doesn’t matter because these two teams would meet anyway in an 8/9 first-round game. The Braves, who have played Ramapo tough (12-10 loss) and have beaten Lakeland, play the tougher schedule, but the Spartans, led by two big goal scorers in Julia Koenemund and Nicole DePasquale are undefeated. And the winner of the 8/9 game, of course, would likely see expected No. 1 Ridgewood in the BCT quarters.
Rounding out the Top 10 should be River Dell, who fit in nicely in the 10-spot because the Hawks have beaten Waldwick (who I say deserves the 11-seed) and lost to Paramus (who I say deserves the 9-seed). Both games were very close and actually, if RD gets the 10 and Glen Rock gets the 7-seed, we’d get a rematch of Glen Rock/River Dell in Round 1 after Glen Rock won the first matchup, 14-11, in overtime. River Dell is 7-2, but are a few plays away from being 9-0 with that OT loss to Glen Rock and a one-goal loss to Paramus. Goalie Kayla Rowley gives them a shot against anyone, along with goal scorers Gabrielle Davidson and Kirsten Wozniak.
At No. 11… Waldwick, currently 5-3 with losses to River Dell, Paramus and Lakeland — all games within two goals or less. Junior Morgan Sinton, by the way, recently surpassed the career 100-goal milestone. The Warriors’ three best wins this year have come against Holy Angels, Wayne Valley and Ramsey.
At No. 12… Holy Angels, currently 6-5 but all five losses have been against teams with winning records (Waldwick, Lakeland, Glen Rock, Paramus, River Dell). Three of those losses have been within five goals. They’ve got one of North Jersey’s best scorers in Danielle Stephens and Melanie Welch and Devin Toolen have also both supplied solid offensive contributions. They’re also on a 3-game winning streak, including wins over Old Tappan and Bergen Tech, entering today’s game against Eastern Christian.
No. 13… Pascack Valley, currently 4-4 but like Holy Angels, every loss has come against a team with a winning record (Lakeland, Roxbury, Saddle River Day, Mahwah). They’ve played both Lakeland and Saddle River Day tough. The 11-12-13 spots could all be interchangeable. Natalie Bade leads the Indians in scoring with 19 goals.
No. 14… Old Tappan, by virtue of its season-opening win over Pascack Hills. They’ve got one of the most prolific scorers in North Jersey, too, in Haley Symons (54 G). OT is 6-2 (losses to Holy Angels and Ramsey) and also has wins over Westwood and Wayne Valley. Played Holy Angels tough in a 9-6 loss.
No. 15… Pascack Hills, currently 6-2 with losses to Old Tappan and Wayne Valley. But the Cowgirls can help their tournament resume today when they square off with undefeated Paramus. PH’s two best wins so far have been against Ramsey and Demarest.
No. 16… Bergen Tech, by virtue of its wild 23-19 win over Demarest a few weeks ago. Bergen Tech is 5-3, with losses to Paramus, Wayne Valley and Holy Angels, but the Knights played the Angels tough in a 13-11 loss. Bergen Tech is 5-1 in its last six, with that lone loss being against AHA. BT can help its tournament resume today against Old Tappan.
Demarest (beat Westwood) is at 17, Westwood (beat Ramsey) at 18, Ramsey at 19 and Dwight-Englewood round out the Top 20.
There is still four days of games left to be played before Sunday’s meeting, so these current rankings and seeds are by no means official. It does offer a glimpse of what is potentially to come though and gives everyone some things to watch for the rest of this week.
May Madness is fast approaching… and it should be fun.