Ridge, Old Bridge expected to get top seeds, Piscataway gets a must-win to qualify for state tournament; here are projected pairings ahead of Friday’s seeding meeting

May 18, 2023  Mike Pavlichko

Based on the official power point standings published on NJ.com, Ridge and Old Bridge are expected to get the top seeds in their respective Group 4 sections when the NJSIAA seeds the state tournament this Friday.

Piscataway beat St. Thomas Aquinas for the second time this season, a 14-4 win Wednesday at home that appears to have put the Chiefs in the playoffs. They entered the day in 17th, behind Newark East Side, but appear to have jumped them with the victory, which followed a 7-4 win over Aquinas in the opening round of the GMC Tournament, after having lost to the Trojans 11-4 just three days prior in their first meeting of the year.

There also appears to be one tiebreaker involving a local team, with Edison and Hunterdon Central tied with 439 power points. Having not played head-to-head, not having any common opponents, the tie would appear to go to the Eagles, with their .625 winning percentage (15-9) better than the Red Devils, who are .600 at 12-8 on the season.

We”ll take a closer look at all the matchups once the official brackets are released Friday. But for now, here are projected opening round matchups for all 38 teams from the Central Jersey Sports Radio coverage area that have appeared to qualify for the state tournament – 25 from the GMC and 13 from Somerset County – with area teams in bold:

North 2, Group 4:
(16) Piscataway at (1) Ridge
(15) Dicksonson at (2) Bridgewater-Raritan
(14) JP Stevens at (3) Woodbridge
(11) Watchung Hills at (6) Edison
(9) Franklin at (8) Westfield

North 2, Group 3
(13) Colonia at (4) South Plainfield

North 2, Group 2
(12) Passaic Valley at (5) Bernards

Central Group 4
(16) West Windsor-Plainsboro North at (1) Old Bridge
(15) Long Branch at (2) North Brunswick
(12) Howell at (5) East Brunswick
(11) Hillsborough at (6) Monroe
(10) South Brunswick at (7) Sayreville
(9) West Windsor-Plainsboro South at (8) Montgomery

Central Group 3
(11) JFK at (6) Allentown
(10) Somerville at (7) Middletown South

Central Group 2
(14) Monmouth at (3) Spotswood
(13) East Brunswick Magnet at (4) Carteret
(12) Johnson at (5) South River

Central Group 1
(14) Burlington City at (3) Middlesex
(13) Florence at (4) Somerset Tech
(12) New Egypt at (5) Manville
(11) Dunellen at (6) Palmyra
(10) South Hunterdon at (7) South Amboy

We won’t be posting projected matchups for Non-Public schools since some teams may have opted out; the NJSIAA does not typically make that information public. However, here are the projected seeds for CJSR-area teams:

Non-Public North B
(2) St. Thomas Aquinas
(3) Rutgers Prep
(7) Gill St. Bernard’s
(9) Timothy Christian
(12) Wardlaw-Hartridge

Non-Public South A
(2) St. Joseph-Metuchen
(8) Pingry
(10) Immaculata

Ridge, Old Bridge expected to get top seeds, Piscataway gets a must-win to qualify for state tournament; here are projected pairings ahead of Friday’s seeding meeting – Central Jersey Sports Radio (cjsportsradio.com)