South Jersey Girls’ Soccer NJSIAA Preview
South Jersey Group 1
Defending champion: Haddon Township.
Outlook: Schalick is the top seed and will be a formidable team, but No. 5 Audubon and No. 6 Haddon Township will be threats, simply because they played such a difficult schedule in the Colonial Conference Liberty, where they were the only Group 1 teams and the others are Group 2 contenders including Liberty champ West Deptford. Gateway, from the Colonial Patriot Division, entered the tournament with just one loss and will also be dangerous. So will No. 7 Woodstown, which tied Schalick and lost 2-1 to the Cougars in their two meetings.
Defending champion: Haddon Township.
Outlook: Schalick is the top seed and will be a formidable team, but No. 5 Audubon and No. 6 Haddon Township will be threats, simply because they played such a difficult schedule in the Colonial Conference Liberty, where they were the only Group 1 teams and the others are Group 2 contenders including Liberty champ West Deptford. Gateway, from the Colonial Patriot Division, entered the tournament with just one loss and will also be dangerous. So will No. 7 Woodstown, which tied Schalick and lost 2-1 to the Cougars in their two meetings.
South Jersey Group 2
Defending champion: Haddonfield
Outlook: Haddon Heights is the top seed and the Garnets will be a threat, but No. 2 West Deptford, despite winning the Colonial Liberty, lost twice by 3-2 scores to Haddon Heights. That doesn’t mean that West Deptford won’t be a serious contender. Two other Colonial Liberty teams, No. 3 Haddonfield and No. 6 Sterling should also be threats. No. 4 Seneca has played the toughest schedule. Facing so many quality Olympic Conference teams will no doubt help the Golden Eagles in the postseason.
Defending champion: Haddonfield
Outlook: Haddon Heights is the top seed and the Garnets will be a threat, but No. 2 West Deptford, despite winning the Colonial Liberty, lost twice by 3-2 scores to Haddon Heights. That doesn’t mean that West Deptford won’t be a serious contender. Two other Colonial Liberty teams, No. 3 Haddonfield and No. 6 Sterling should also be threats. No. 4 Seneca has played the toughest schedule. Facing so many quality Olympic Conference teams will no doubt help the Golden Eagles in the postseason.
South Jersey Group 3
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Defending champion: Shawnee, which also won the state championship.
Outlook: Shawnee should benefit from reaching the finals of the South Jersey Coaches Tournament, losing a 3-2 double OT decision to Paul VI. The Renegades aren’t as explosive as last year’s 25-0 team, but they will be difficult to unseat both in South Jersey and statewide. Renegades junior Maddie Zaun, one of the top players in South Jersey, has 10 goals and 13 assists. The one regular season loss was 1-0 to Delsea, which is seeded No. 3 and will be dangerous. No. 2 Moorestown, which lost 1-0 to Shawnee in the regular season, also bears watching.
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Defending champion: Shawnee, which also won the state championship.
Outlook: Shawnee should benefit from reaching the finals of the South Jersey Coaches Tournament, losing a 3-2 double OT decision to Paul VI. The Renegades aren’t as explosive as last year’s 25-0 team, but they will be difficult to unseat both in South Jersey and statewide. Renegades junior Maddie Zaun, one of the top players in South Jersey, has 10 goals and 13 assists. The one regular season loss was 1-0 to Delsea, which is seeded No. 3 and will be dangerous. No. 2 Moorestown, which lost 1-0 to Shawnee in the regular season, also bears watching.
South Jersey Group 4
Defending champion: Eastern.
Outlook: Top seeded Central Regional will be a difficult team to beat, entering with a 15-1-1 record. The lone loss was 1-0 to a Trinity Hall team that is the No. 2 seed in South Jersey Non-Public A. It’s hard to call a defending sectional champ a dark horse, but No. 5 Eastern seems to be peaking at the right time. The Vikings are 4-1-1 in their last six games, with the lone loss, a 2-0 defeat to Shawnee in the South Jersey Coaches Tournament. Eastern has also beaten Washington Township and Kingsway, which are seeded No. 2 and No. 6 respectively and could be threats. So could No. 2 Southern Regional and No. 3 Cherokee. Pay special attention to Cheroke, which defeated Eastern, but suffered 1-0 losses to both Shawnee and Washington Township.
Defending champion: Eastern.
Outlook: Top seeded Central Regional will be a difficult team to beat, entering with a 15-1-1 record. The lone loss was 1-0 to a Trinity Hall team that is the No. 2 seed in South Jersey Non-Public A. It’s hard to call a defending sectional champ a dark horse, but No. 5 Eastern seems to be peaking at the right time. The Vikings are 4-1-1 in their last six games, with the lone loss, a 2-0 defeat to Shawnee in the South Jersey Coaches Tournament. Eastern has also beaten Washington Township and Kingsway, which are seeded No. 2 and No. 6 respectively and could be threats. So could No. 2 Southern Regional and No. 3 Cherokee. Pay special attention to Cheroke, which defeated Eastern, but suffered 1-0 losses to both Shawnee and Washington Township.
South Jersey Non-Public A
Defending champion: Paul VI, which also won the state championship.
Outlook: Paul VI will again be the favorite, coming off a Coaches Tournament championship against Shawnee, improving its record to 20-0. The Eagles have one of South Jersey’s top players in Emma McCarthy, who had the game-winner in the 3-2 double OT Coaches Tournament title game win over Shawnee, giving her 18 goals this season. No. 2 Trinity Hall has had some big wins in the Shore Conference, including a 1-0 victory over South Jersey Group 4 top seed Central Regional. No. 3 Immaculata, which lost to Paul VI, 1-0 in last year’s sectional final, will again be dangerous. No. 4 Red Bank Catholic also bears watching. If anybody else surfaces as a contender, it will be a surprise. The is a high-powered group and although Paul VI is favored, the Eagles will have their work cut out.
Defending champion: Paul VI, which also won the state championship.
Outlook: Paul VI will again be the favorite, coming off a Coaches Tournament championship against Shawnee, improving its record to 20-0. The Eagles have one of South Jersey’s top players in Emma McCarthy, who had the game-winner in the 3-2 double OT Coaches Tournament title game win over Shawnee, giving her 18 goals this season. No. 2 Trinity Hall has had some big wins in the Shore Conference, including a 1-0 victory over South Jersey Group 4 top seed Central Regional. No. 3 Immaculata, which lost to Paul VI, 1-0 in last year’s sectional final, will again be dangerous. No. 4 Red Bank Catholic also bears watching. If anybody else surfaces as a contender, it will be a surprise. The is a high-powered group and although Paul VI is favored, the Eagles will have their work cut out.
South Jersey Non-Public B
Defending champion: Rutgers Prep was also last year’s state champion.
Outlook: This is pretty simple—if anybody other than Rutgers Prep wins, it will be a major surprise. Last year Rutgers Prep went 23-0 enroute to winning a state title. Entering this year’s tournament, Rutgers Prep is 17-0. Sophomore Brooke Bredeson is a true finisher with 16 goals. Once again Rutgers Prep will be vying to finish as the top team in the state.
Defending champion: Rutgers Prep was also last year’s state champion.
Outlook: This is pretty simple—if anybody other than Rutgers Prep wins, it will be a major surprise. Last year Rutgers Prep went 23-0 enroute to winning a state title. Entering this year’s tournament, Rutgers Prep is 17-0. Sophomore Brooke Bredeson is a true finisher with 16 goals. Once again Rutgers Prep will be vying to finish as the top team in the state.
Photo: Paul VI's Natalie Ceccanecchio (29) goes up for the header with No. 9 Sloan Ludwig of Shawnee / Marc Narducci
Author: Marc Narducci
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