Newark, NJ —

Oftentimes when we witness sports history it happens before our eyes either by pure chance or we go into the event knowing that a milestone is likely. But rarely is it guaranteed… This is such the case this Monday when the state of New Jersey will name a state champion not named Morristown-Beard for the first time in the four-year history of the tournament. In a bracket containing upsets abound, the Pingry Big Blue and Immaculate Heart Academy Blue Eagles have emerged as your two candidates to capture the state’s top prize in girl’s ice hockey. Let’s take a look at their respective paths to the Prudential Center and who to keep an eye on come Monday.

Pingry Big Blue (8-9-1, +11 Goal Differential)

How They Got Here:

Perennial contenders in their own right, Pingry is known as one of the more dominant programs in the history of the girl’s game in New Jersey, though this year they faced plenty of adversity. After finishing as the runner-up in the 2023 State Championship, the Big Blue got off to a rocky start to the season, dropping three of their first four games. The end of the 23-24 campaign didn’t fare much better for them either, as they lost five of their last six prior to the start of bracket play. Still, head coach Rich Fuchs kept his team motivated and led his number five-seeded team to a huge 7-0 shutout of Westfield, a 3-1 stunner against the third-seeded Oak Knoll, and perhaps the program’s magnum opus, a 2-1 overtime win against Morristown-Beard in the semifinal round. Pingry may still be under .500 overall, but they might be the hottest of all eight of the teams competing on Monday for a ring.

Offense:

Scoring goals hasn’t been an issue this season for the Big Blue, averaging a respectable 3.56 per contest, with their 64 total being the second-most in a stacked Librera Division. Senior Charlotte Diemar (24G, 8A, 32Pts) paced the team in scores and total points while eclipsing the century mark in the latter category for her career. She’s joined by fellow 20+ goal-scorer, junior Alexis Glasofer (21G, 10A, 31Pts), who was the heroine of the semifinal round, lighting the lamp in overtime to punch her team’s ticket to Newark. While those two alone have comprised 70% of their squad’s goal output, they’ve had plenty of help from a stellar supporting cast, including senior Mae Lange (1G, 12A, 13Pts), sophomore Keira DeCroix (4G, 12A, 16Pts), and freshman Lauren Glasofer (1G, 12A, 13Pts). These five and more will try and help their team get to the magic number of four goals on the scoreboard, a total that’s given their team a 5-0-1 record this season when they’ve reached it, including their win against IHA in January.

Defense:

In two seasons as the varsity starter, senior Kate Niccolai has had quite an impressive run. In 32 games in net, she’s amassed a 2.13 GAA to go along with a .878 save percentage and five shutouts, and oh by the way is starting in her second-consecutive state title game. Her more recent performance was likely the best of her career, halting 32 of 33 shots off of the Crimson’s sticks on Thursday. The blue liners in front of her have been solid as well with Lange and Lauren Glasofer putting in some serious work, along with juniors Gabrielle Cameron and Lizzy Nikitin providing experience. Additionally, Pingry has been sensational in the playoffs defensively, surrendering just a pair of goals on 63 shots (.968 save%).

X-Factor:

Momentum. As mentioned above, the Big Blue were having a fairly down season, particularly by their own standards until the first puck drop of the postseason. Their two goals allowed is their best mark in any three-game span this season, while their 12 goals is the third-highest three-game mark they’ve posted. Things seem to be coming together at the right time for Pingry, and honestly after taking down the state’s only champion last round, it’s going to take a whole lot to slow this team down.

Immaculate Heart Academy Blue Eagles (7-6-0, +3 Goal Differential)

How They Got Here:

Much like their record would suggest, it’s been an up-and-down season for the Blue Eagles, but caught lightning in a bottle in late February to soar up to their first-ever State Championship game. On their way, they took care of a business with a 10-0 throttling of Newark East Side, followed by an anxiety-inducing 5-4 win against sixth-seeded Summit in a game that featured a scoreless third period, before coming back from down 3-1 to take down the number two seed of Princeton Day 4-3 who they’d recently lost to in the Librera Cup semifinal by the same score.

Offense:

Immaculate Heart’s goal-scoring largely comes in the form of blistering shots off the stick of sophomore Claire Chanfrau, and quite frankly they’re okay with that. The second-year star rode a 17 goal, 13 assist season to build her career total to 101 points, picking up multiple goals in seven of her team’s 13 contests. Highlighting her dominance certainly should not take away from the contributions of her teammates though, as junior trio Gabriella Capano (4G, 6A, 10Pts), Julie Foglia (8G, 3A, 11Pts), and Gabriella Shadek (7G, 9A, 16Pts) all emerged as threats as well as fellow members of the 10+ point club. Much like their finals opponent, the Blue Eagles’ offense is clicking at the right time, with their 17 goals representing their best mark in any three-game span this season. This doesn’t just mean Chanfrau either, as her teammates have accounted for 76% of IHA’s playoff goals compared to 65% of lamp-lighters all season long.

Defense:

With freshman Delany Cozine’s online statistics incomplete we’ll give you the numbers that we have at our disposal. In her first season between the pipes, Cozine has been nothing short of impressive, posting a save percentage right around .858 (one game not reported), and a GAA of 3.58. Not too shabby filling the big skates of Natalia Peterson who was a stalwart on last year’s Cohen Cup winning squad. As a whole, IHA has had an issue at times preventing scoring, allowing four or more goals in seven games this season, and winning just once (quarterfinal round vs Summit), though we’ve seen their defense come together when called upon, surrendering just one third period goal in the playoffs. In two games against Pingry this season they’ve let in eight goals, but a third time around could give them the edge after a season series split.

X-Factor:

Close game experience. The bright lights and large crowds at Prudential Center will be enough to shake the nerves of any player, but this team has proved that they can play their best hockey when the pressure’s on, winning two of their three postseason games in one-goal fashion. Pingry on the other side of things, has just one victory in games decided by a single goal, and that was their semifinal win against Morristown-Beard. Aside from that, the Big Blue were 0-4 in those types of games.

The Girls State Final will take place at Prudential Center on Monday, March 4th, with puck drop at 5:30 PM.