Glen Ridge HS girls’ lacrosse team captures Essex County Tournament championship

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GLEN RIDGE – The Glen Ridge High School girls’ varsity lacrosse team rules Essex County.

Colleen Grady scored eight goals; Galen Lew scored four goals and Juliann Lisovicz had two goals to lead the second-seeded Ridgers to a 14-6 win over fourth-seeded Verona in the Essex County Tournament championship game at Nutley High School’s Tangorra Field/Park Oval on Saturday, May 7. All three GRHS players are juniors.

Senior goalie Nicole Eckert made seven saves for the Ridgers, who won their eighth straight game to move to an 11-3 record.

The Ridgers, under longtime head coach Beth Larkin, won their third ECT title in five seasons.  GRHS won the ECT titles in 2012 and 2013. The Ridgers also appeared in their sixth ECT final in seven seasons. They won it in 2010 and were runner-up in 2011 and 2014.

The Ridgers jumped out to a 3-0 lead with Grady scoring the first and third goals and Lisovicz netting the second goal. After Verona scored, Lisovicz scored to make it 4-1. Verona scored twice to cut it to 4-3, but Grady scored three straight goals to end the half as the Ridgers led 7-3.

After Verona scored the first goal of the second half, the Ridgers scored seven straight goals for a commanding 14-4 lead. Verona scored the final two goals of the game.

It was the second time the Ridgers beat Verona in their past three games. GRHS beat Verona, 11-7, May 2, at Watsessing Park.

In their previous game, Grady and Lisovicz each scored five goals to lead the Ridgers to a 20-10 win over Caldwell on May 4 at Watsessing Park field. Lew and junior Maggie Smith each had three goals. Smith had five assists; Grady had two assists; Lisovicz had one assist; and Grady and Lew each had two assists. Junior Merritt Davie, freshman Jennifer Lisovicz and senior Ali Fuydal each had one goal and one assist; and freshman Claire McMahon had one goal. Eckert had eight saves.