WEST ORANGE/GLEN RIDGE, NJ — The defending champion West Orange High School girls soccer team will face Glen Ridge High School in the Essex County Tournament championship game on Saturday, Oct. 22, at Caldwell HIgh School at 2 p.m.
Glen Ridge, seeded 12th, stunned top-seeded Montclair, 2-1, and third-seeded West Orange upset second-seeded and Super Essex Conference–American Division rival Livingston, 3-1, in the ECT semifinals doubleheader held at Livingston High School on Tuesday, Oct. 18. Last year, West Orange defeated Livingston, 2-1, in the ECT final. It was the first ECT final since 2019. The 2020 tournament was canceled due to the pandemic.
Senior Ava Kotronis scored both goals for Glen Ridge, and sophomore Katie Powers had one assist in the win over Montclair, which was ranked No. 7 in the state by the Star-Ledger. It was Montclair’s first loss of the season. Montclair was 13-0-1 going into the game. Junior Olivia Gist made nine saves for Glen Ridge, under Oscar Viteri, who is in his 22nd year as the Glen Ridge head coach.
Junior Madison Cyrus had a goal and an assist to lead West Orange in the win over Livingston. Junior Jaiden Schultz and sophomore Aminata Diop each had a goal, and senior Sidda Mitchell had one assist. Sophomore Hannah Amoyaw made 11 saves. West Orange, under eighth-year head coach Sean Devore, improved to 12-3-1. West Orange avenged a 1-0 loss to Livingston on Monday, Oct. 3. Since that loss, West Orange has won five straight games. The win streak started with a 2-0 win over Glen Ridge on Thursday, Oct. 6 at Watsessing Park in Bloomfield in a SEC crossover game. Sophomore Lauren Villasin and senior Anna Deer scored the goals, and sophomore Isabella Pincham and Mitchell each had an assist. Amoyaw made three saves.
Glen Ridge defeated Science Park, 5-0, on Wednesday, Oct. 19 in a SEC crossover game to improve to 8-6-2 on the season. Kotronis and Powers each had two goals, and senior Megan Farnham-Varga had one goal. Freshman Grace Sutton, and sophomores Ava Decker and Keira Runnions each had an assist. Gist made two saves, and freshman Alison Snyder and senior Jada Cush each had one save.
Glen Ridge defeated No. 21 seed Orange, 9-0, in the preliminary round; defeated No. 5 seed West Essex, 1-0, in the first round; and eliminated fourth-seeded Verona in the quarterfinals in a penalty-kick shootout, 5-4, after the game was scoreless through regulation and two overtimes.
West Orange defeated No. 14 seed Newark East Side, 2-0, in the first round, and defeated No. 6 seed Millburn, 1-0, in the quarterfinals, on a goal by Schultz.
West Orange defeated Glen Ridge, 2-1, in overtime in the 2018 ECT final.
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