Glen Ridge HS girls soccer team battles hard during season

GLEN RIDGE, NJ — The Glen Ridge High School girls soccer team had a good run this season.

The Ridgers, under Oscar Viteri, who has been the Ridgers head coach since 2001, were seeking their 10th straight state sectional championship.

Glen Ridge, seeded 10th, defeated seventh-seeded Hasbrouck Heights, 4-3, in the first round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Section 2, Group 1, tournament on Nov. 2. But GRHS lost at Cedar Grove, 2-0, in the quarterfinals on Nov. 5, to finish with a 4-9-5 record.

“It was a good run,” said Viteri.

In the loss to Cedar Grove, the Ridgers outshot Cedar Grove, 18-3, and hit the crossbar several times. 

“It was that kind of year for us,” said Viteri, alluding to the misfortunes of this season. 

The Ridgers featured several players who stepped up this season.

“(Junior midfielder) Ava Kotronis finished as our leading scorer,” Viteri said. “She really stepped up when (senior) Olivia Hoover, our main forward, went down, and Katie Powers, a freshman forward, went down early. After Olivia got hurt in the first half of the first game this season, I ended up putting Ava up there, and she did well. She created a lot of chances for us. She stepped up her game this year, and she was a threat every time we played somebody. She gave us a lot of opportunities to score, even though we didn’t score much.

“We actually lost (senior back) Kaitlyn Degnan again — she tore her ACL in her other knee. I didn’t have Kaitlyn for the midseason and (senior midfielder) Alison Shea late in the season because they were all hurt. But other girls stepped up. I thought (senior back) Kayla Garske, one of my captains, really stepped up her game this year as a defender, led by example, a tireless worker, always played with her heart on her sleeve. She was our leader in the back. 

“I thought (senior) Elettra Giantomenico did great for us as our starting keeper this year. She did well in the back and kept us in games with some good saves. Another bright spot for us was (senior) Olivia Corradi. She was my stopper. She did a great job, steady player in the back. My defenders were pretty good, and she was one of them, and I thought at midfield, (senior) Defne Zeybek, she was a captain, was a tireless worker and she really worked hard in the midfield. I counted on her to play different roles, center mid and outside, and she did well. Obviously, Kaitlyn Degnan and Alison Shea were big contributors before they got hurt. (Senior) Caroline Weinstein did a nice job, another senior captain in the back, an outside right back. I thought (junior back) Megan Varga-Farnham did well, but she also got hurt.

“Listen, this year was tough, when you’re not scoring in the A division (Super Essex Conference–American Division). But we managed some wins. We beat West Orange, we tied West Essex, we tied Montclair. But we struggled against the weaker teams. We lost a lot of 1-0 games. But other girls stepped up; other freshmen stepped up and got a lot of playing time. But unfortunately, we lost to Cedar Grove; we outshot them 18-3 and just a little snakebitten. It just wasn’t our year. We didn’t get the bounces. It happens.”

Glen Ridge next season will most likely move down to the B division of the Super Essex Conference, which is the Liberty Division, which could be beneficial to the program.

“A lot of girls stepped up because of injuries, and now they have the experience, and we’ll see how they do next year. But you know what, the girls really worked hard. They had a lot of disappointments with the injuries, but the kids stepped up, worked hard and did their best. It was just unfortunate that we got knocked out early.”

In the SEC–American Division, Kotronis made first team, Giantomenico made second team, and Degnan and Garske each made honorable mention.

  Glen Ridge High School girls soccer