On Tuesday, June 9, the stage was set for the NJSIAA North Jersey, Group 1 Girls’ Lacrosse Tournament Championship between Mountain Lakes High School and Glen Ridge High School.
Both teams, up until the sectional championship game, had incredible playoff runs, resulting in an exciting final game, with Glen Ridge coming out on top at home, 7-6, on an overtime golden goal.
The Ridgers started the game off strong with three goals in the opening quarter, yet Mountain Lakes fought to stay in the contest and scored two goals as well, ending the first quarter trailing by only one goal.
In the second quarter, the Lakers continued to fight, adding two more goals to the scoreboard and shutting out Glen Ridge to claim a 4-3 lead at halftime.
Glen Ridge regrouped after the half and looked to regain the lead, while Mountain Lakes needed to play defense or continue outscoring the Ridgers.
The entirety of the third quarter belonged to Glen Ridge as they flipped the game and the score with three additional goals, making the score 6-4 in favor of the Ridgers. However, the Lakers responded. By the end of the fourth quarter, Mountain Lakes would add two more goals to send the game to overtime.
According to the NJSIAA, in girls’ lacrosse, the overtime winner is decided by a “sudden victory”, which means the first team that scores wins the game. Glen Ridge scored their golden goal in the first overtime period to become the NJSIAA North Group 1 Champions.
Senior attacker Addison Townson from Glen Ridge contributed four goals throughout the game and was one of the key players offensively for the Ridgers.
Glen Ridge advances to face Haddonfield in the NJSIAA Group 1 State Championship game. The final is set to take place at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) on Friday, June 12, at 1 p.m.
