State Tourn Boy Soccer - North 2 & Non-Publics

North 2, Group I

#9 Bloomfield Tech at #8 Hoboken, winner at #1 High Tech: High Tech is currently ranked #7 in Hudson County and at 11-3-1. Anything can happen when Hoboken mixes it up with the Tech Schools and the rest of Hudson County.

#5 Harrison at #4 Ridgefield: Harrison, a traditional Group 1 contender comes in at 13-5-2 while Ridgefield has put up 14 goals in their past 3 games. Look for this one to go into kicks with Ridgefield advancing.

#6 Whippany Park at #3 Market St. Tech: Tom Wilson and his Wildcats are always force and now that they return to Group I from a year up at Group 2, Whippany Park is another favorite to win this section. The Wildcats were knocked out of the MCT on a late penalty kick and must convert early to avoid late game heroics by the opposition.

#10 North Arlington at #2 Jonathan Dayton: NA had to beat Secaucus 1-0 to earn a shot at Jonathan Dayton. Dayton was on a serious roll in October and worked to 15-1 before dropping two games – a 3-0 loss to Cranford and a 2-1 at New Providence.

North 2, Group II
#9 Parsippany at #1 Cliffside Park: The Red Hawks handled Madison 3-0 to advance to this game. Parsippany can score and if they are playing well, they can really make some noise in this section. But Cliffside Park is a top Bergen team at 17-1; their only loss coming to Tenefly, a team that had beaten 2-1 earlier in the season.

#5 Lodi at #4 Bernards: The Mountaineers are 12-4-1 and enjoying playing in their new conference. The traditionally strong boys soccer program has been a team to reckon with while moving between Central and North Jersey Sections.

#6 West Essex at #3 Hackettstown: West Essex has a few great wins under their belt including an early season victory over Morris Hills. The Scarlet Knights hit a downwards slide, but have an opportunity to make good in the states. The Tigers, on the other hand, are enjoying another great season closing out October at 14-3-1 spurred by a 3-1 victory over Del Val. Matt Winkler scored two in that game.

#7 Lenape Valley at #2 Chatham: The Patriots wasted no time jumping out to a 4-1 halftime lead over Mountain Lakes in the 1st round of the states. Lenape Valley won that game 7-1 and now meets up with Chatham. The Cougars have only two losses, an upset loss to Morristown in the MCT and are now 16-2, as well as Hills Division Champions.

North 2, Group III

#8 Mendham at #1 Cranford: The Minutemen knocked off traditionally strong Scotch Plains 3-1 earlier this week. The Minutemen are capable of scoring at will, such as their 5-0 victory over Par Hills last week and 4-0 victory over West Essex. But can also struggle to find the back of the net as in their 3-1 loss to Parsippany. Mendham is a strong defensive team and is used to playing in tough games. Mendham can be dangerous, as Scotch Plains found out. Cranford has two shutout wins last week but suffered a 4-3 defeat to Scotch Plains a week before that. This one has the makings of a classic!

#12 Holmdel at #4 Nutley: Holmdel defeated Ferris 1-0 to advance to this match-up with Nutley. The Raiders passed JFK-Islin 5-0. Nutley is the real deal and really Don Bosco before falling 2-1.

South Plainfield at #3 Parsippany Hills: South Plainfield has already defeated one Morris County team, West Morris 2-1. Par Hills boasts Morris County’s leading scorer David Przybylo. South Plainfield had a winning October and come into this match up at 11-7-2. Kenny Breslau scored both goals in the in over Central.

#7 Morristown at #2 Millburn: The Colonials are another top team out of a soccer strong Morris County. Morristown held a 1-0 lead over Morris Hills before falling in the first few seconds of overtime. A 1-0 win over Emerson of Union City preceded a 1-0 loss to Livingston yesterday. Millburn is the Essex County Champions beating Montcair in the semi’s 4-1 and Columbia in the finals, 3-1. The victory moved Millburn to #4 in The Star Ledger Poll.

North 2, Group IV

#8 Edison at #1 Columbia: Edison had to beat Bayonne to get this round and did by virtue of a 2-0 shutout victory. Anest Roberts and Wes Ostrzycki scored to lead Edison. Columbia is the real deal. They play in the stacked IHC-Iron and knocked off Seton Hall Prep before falling to Millburn in the finals. This year has been no easy road for Columbia and this section will not be either.

#5 Union at #4 North Hunterdon: The Farmer beat Watchung Hills (state game) and lost to Elizabeth last week. Before that, Union had tied Elizabeth 1-1 and knocked off Union County’s #1 Westfield. North Hunterdon has also beat Watchung Hills in the past week. They come in at 15-3 and this should be another great match-up in the state tournament.

#6 Dickinson at #3 Bridgewater-Raritan: Dickenson of Hudson County is currently 14-5-1 and coming off a 2-1 victory over Piscataway allowing them to advance to this game. B-R suffered a tough loss, 3-2, to Pingry in the Somerset County Tournament. They come in with a record of 16-4.

#7 Elizabeth at #2 Westfield : Elizabeth has had a busy week, starting with a 4-0 victory over Roselle Catholic, followed up the nest day with a 1-0 state win over Ridge. Matias Cei stopped 10 shots for the shutout and Roberto Morneo-Duque was the goal scoring hero of the game. Westfield is ranked #1 in Union County and was the #1 seed for the UCT, but fell in the UCT to Scotch Plains, 1-0. Westfield won the Watchung Conference.

Non-Public North A

#9 Union Catholic at #8 Paramus Catholic, winner at #1 Don Bosco: Bosco’s in The Star Ledger’s NJ #1 and are now undefeated at 20-0. Don Bosco is one of four schools here that can take it all.

#5 Morris Catholic at #4 Seton Hall Prep: This is a very tough draw for the Crusaders as Seton Hall Prep has only lost to Columbia in the ECT, a team that had already neaten in the regular season. Morris Catholic lost to Delbarton in the Semi’s of the MCT.

#6 Pope John at #3 Pingry: Pingry is one team who has serious shot of knocking off Delbarton and then Seton Hall Prep or Bosco.

#10 DePaul at #7 Bergen Catholic, winner at #2 Delbarton: The Green Wave are the MCT runner’s up and were ranked #1 in NJ and top 5 Nationally before falling to Morris Hills. The Green Wave are many’s favorite to win North A and Non-Public.


Non-Public North B #5 Morristown-Beard at #1 Gill-St. Bernard's: Morristown-Beard did not enter the Morris County Tournament. They improved to 8-7 after beating Science 3-0. But fell to 8-8 after a 4-0 defeat at #1 seeded Gill-St. Bernard. A win vs. Eastern Christian gives the Crimson a chance to match up with the #1 seed again.

#3 Newark Academy at #2 Oratory Prep: These are the other two of the five teams that qualified for the NJSIAA state tournament.