South Jersey Girls Lacrosse Preview

by Marc Narducci | May 27, 2026

The NJSIAA girls’ lacrosse state tournament begins on Thursday. In lacrosse, there are two sections, North and South. That is why there are so many teams from outside the seven-county South Jersey area in the South, with many from Central Jersey. Here is a look at the playoffs.

South Group 1

Defending champion: Rumson-Fair Haven beat Haddonfield, 11-9 in the sectional final. Rumson then beat Mountain Lakes, 10-9 in the state Group 1 championship. Haddonfield will be the favorite, but Rumson should make a real run. Rumson is coming off a 17-11 win over Red Bank Regional in the Shore Conference tournament championship. Junior Chloe Kelly has scored a team-high 59 goals. A big offensive effort will be needed to beat Haddonfield. The Bulldogs are led by Harvard commit Riley Austin, who enters the week with 54 goals this season and 201 in her career. One team that has plenty of offense is (6) Haddon Township, which has three players with 50 or more goals, led by sophomore Kaitlyn Martin, who began the week with 72. Still, it would be a major surprise if anybody other than Haddonfield and Rumson is playing in the championship game.

South Group 2

Defending champion: Allentown beat Manasquan, 10-6 in the South Group 2 final. Last year’s sectional finalists are the top two rated teams, with Allentown No. 1 and Manasquan No. 2. Allentown is a high-scoring team, with three players having scored 40 or more goals, led by senior Rider commit Addison Wagner with 53 goals. Manasquan has played a difficult schedule, but entered the week 7-8. Earlier this season Manasquan beat Rumson-Fair Haven, 8-7, but lost the rematch, 17-4 in a Shore Conference tournament quarterfinal. As for teams from the seven-county South Jersey area (3) Seneca has the best shot, but Allentown will be difficult to beat.

South Group 3

Defending champion: Moorestown beat Cherry Hill West, 12-7 in the sectional final. The Quakers would then lose to Summit, 6-5 in the state Group 3 championship game. Moorestown has been among the top teams in the state, and the Quakers are the clear favorite. The Quakers entered the week, 12-4 and three of the losses were to nationally ranked teams of Pennsylvania’s Inter-AC League, Penn Charter, Agnes Irwin and Academy of Notre Dame. The fourth loss was 8-5 to Oak Knoll in a battle of New Jersey’s top teams. Entering the game, Moorestown was ranked No. 1 in the state by NJ.com and Oak Knoll was No. 2. This type of challenging schedule has prepared Moorestown well for the postseason. Senior Julia Blong, a Rutgers commit, leads the Quakers with 32 goals. Ocean City, which owns a win Group 4 No. 1 seed Cherokee, is the No. 2 seed is a potential contender, but the likely top challenger will be (3) Shawnee, which lost to Moorestown, 5-3, in their regular season meeting on April 2.

South Group 4

Defending champion: Southern beat Cherokee, 7-3 in the South Group 4 final. The teams that reached the final last year are expected to do so again. Cherokee is the No. 1 seed and Southern is No. 2.

Cherokee has four players who have scored 30 or more goals entering the week, led by junior Abby Ball who had 48. Southern, which lost, 7-6, to Red Bank Regional in a Shore Conference Tournament semifinal, is led by sophomore Mackenzie Sininsky, who entered the week with 66 goals and 98 for her career.

There could be other challengers, including (3) Montgomery, but it would be a surprise if the top two seeds won’t be competing in the sectional final.

Kaitlyn Martin No. 7 of Haddon Township / Marc Narducci

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South Jersey Girls Lacrosse Preview

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