GLEN RIDGE — The Glen Ridge High School girls lacrosse team rose to the proverbial mountain top.
Under longtime head coach Beth Larkin, the Ridgers captured the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Group 1 state championship in dramatic fashion to cap its magnificent season.
Senior Grace Sutton scored the sudden-death goal with 52 seconds left in overtime as Glen Ridge defeated South Haddonfield 10-9 in the Group 1 state final at The College of New Jersey in Ewing on June 12 on a hot and humid day.
The Ridgers, who won the state sectional title in the previous game, won their final six games to finish with a 14-8 record on the season. Haddonfield, the South Jersey sectional champion and ranked No. 7 in the state by NJ.com, finished with an 18-3 record. GRHS was unranked.
Haddonfield won the faceoff to start the overtime period. GRHS sophomore goalie Sydney Medlar was able to keep the game alive when she made a spectacular save during Haddonfield’s overtime possession. The Ridgers quickly gained possession and came right back down the field. Sutton ended that possession when she blasted a shot into the net, touching a wild celebration by her teammates.
Sutton finished with 2 goals, 6 ground balls, 5 draw controls and 2 forced turnovers. She will continue her career at Division 1 Bucknell on an athletic scholarship.
Senior Addison Townson led the Ridgers with 4 goals and added 1 assist. Freshman Paige McCormack scored 2 goals. Junior Claudia Brennan, the hero in the sectional final, had 1 goal, 3 GBs, 1 DC and 1 FT. Medlar finished with 12 saves. The Ridgers avenged the 2021 Group 1 state final loss to Haddonfield.
It marked the Ridgers’ second Group 1 state title in three years and fourth overall. It was also their sixth state final appearance. Their other two Group 1 state titles came in 2011 and 2012, when they defeated Pingry in both finals. Their first state final was in 2010, when they lost to Oak Knoll.
The Ridgers also captured the NJSIA’s North Jersey, Group 1 state sectional tournament championship in dramatic fashion. Brennan scored the game-winning goal with under a minute left in overtime to lift the top-seeded Ridgers to a 7-6 win over second-seeded Mountain Lakes in the final on June 9 at Watsessing Park field.
Brennan finished with 2 goals, 2 assists, 5 GBs, 2 DCs and 3 FTs. Senior Addison Townson scored 4 goals with 4 GBs and freshman Carly Junger scored 1 goal for the Ridgers. Sutton had 4 FTs, 2 GBs and 1 DC, Medlar had 2 GBs and made 6 saves in net, and senior Audrey Medlar and sophomore Bella Porawski each had 2 FTs.
The following GRHS players also earned All–NJ Interscholastic Girls Lacrosse League–Stars & Stripes White Division honors, as voted by the division coaches.
First team: Sutton, Townson, Audrey Medlar and Brennan.
Second team: sophomore Bella Porawski, sophomore Olivia Torrisi, sophomore Molly O’Connor and Sydney Medlar.
Honorable mention: sophomore Clare Killen.
Sutton had 26 goals and 43 assists this season. She finished with 90 goals and 75 assists for 165 points for her career.
Townson had 76 goals and 21 assists this season. She finished with 214 goals and 50 assists for 264 points for her career.
Brennan finished the season with 62 goals and 16 assists and she has 84 goals and 21 assists for 105 points for her career.
McCormack had 24 goals and 5 assists for the season.
Sydney Medlar had 137 saves and allowed 170 goals in 22 games.
Photo Courtesy of Glen Ridge High School Girls Lacrosse
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