By, Jake Karp

Two unanswered goals in the second half propelled the Mountaineers to a hard-fought victory at home against the Glen Ridge Ridgers, closing out a strong 2024 regular season in style. 

Following yesterday’s loss, the Ridgers concluded the season with an 11-6-1 overall record finishing 3rd in the Liberty Divsion of the SEC. 

The dominant Mountaineers secured second place in the SEC and won the American Division with a 13-4-1 overall record.

West Orange has won 11 of their 13 home games this season, but found themselves trailing for the majority of this match due to a first half goal off a free kick by Max Fleischer, who capped off a phenomenal Sophomore campaign for Glen Ridge posting 12 goals and 10 assists. 

Glen Ridge also showcased it’s strong defense, holding West Orange scoreless for the first 50 minutes of the game.

Despite the Mountaineers’ first-half struggles, they still appeared in control, dominating possession throughout the game. 

After an impassioned half-time speech by West Orange’s Doug Nevins, momentum shifted in favor of the Mountaineers, who scored two goals within a minute of each other to tie and then take the lead. Nevins, who got over 300 career victories and two group state championships, provided inspiration to his teams commanding second-half performance. 

The Mountaineers’ goals came from Carl Hall and Defender Marcus Jackson, two Juniors who combined for 15 goals this season for West Orange. Junior Luc Brown and Senior Lucas Andrada each contributed an assist in the win.

“Going into halftime [it’s about] making sure we’re communicating the issues and go into the second half stronger,” Jackson said after the game, reflecting on their second-half turnaround.

With the State Tournament kicking off next week, keeping starters healthy is a top priority for all teams. However, that didn’t lessen either teams intensity or physicality resulting in a hard-fought victory for West Orange.

West Orange is set to face off against 7-11-1 Memorial (Group 1, Section 4) in the first round of the NJSIAA State Tournament on Tuesday at home at 2:00 pm. The Mountaineers tied (1-1) with Cherokee in the Group 4 State championship in 2022.  

Led by head coach, Brian Ianni, Glen Ridge will host 8-9 Hoboken (Section 2, Group 1) in their first-round battle on Tuesday at 2:00 pm.