Allentown, Princeton both earn No. 1 seeds in state tournament
The girls lacrosse state tournament pairings have been announced and Allentown and Princeton gained top seeds in Central Jersey Group III and Central Jersey Group IV, respectively.
There are 11 Colonial Valley Conference teams and two area Burlington County schools that will by vying for a sectional title.
Games get under way on Monday with Hightstown, the No. 5 seed in Central Jersey Group IV, hosting No. 12 Manalapan.
Also in the CJ IV bracket, No. 10 West Windsor-Plainsboro South travels to No.7 Brick Memorial.
Should South make it two straight years winning on the road in the first round, it will face No. 2 Rancocas Valley, the team that eliminated it in 2017.
No. 1 Princeton hosts the winner of the game between No. 8 South Brunswick and No. 9 Jackson Memorial on Thursday.
Over in Central Jersey Group II, No. 10 Robbinsville heads to No. 7 Cinnaminson and No. 11 Ewing treks to the shore and visits No. 6 Point Pleasant Boro.
The second-round games in Groups II and IV will be completed by Thursday, May 17.
North Jersey 2, Group III is the bracket Hopewell Valley and West WindsorPlainsboro North will compete in.
The No. 7 seeded Bulldogs host a first round game against No 10 West Morris and No. 9 WW-P North goes to No. 8 Cranford with both games scheduled for Tuesday.
The Central Jersey Group III bracket is the most interesting. Not only does it have No. 1 Allentown and No. 2 Notre Dame set for a potential rematch of last year’s sectional final, but because of the nine teams in the bracket, five are local.
The only Tuesday game has No. 8 Steinert hosting No. 9 Pennsauken. Hopefully, the Spartans have a better fate than last year when Long Branch forfeited in the first round.
Should the Spartans win they will meet No. 1 Allentown.
The games in the bracket set for Friday the 18th are No. 2 Notre Dame hosting No. 7 Brick Township and No. 6 Lawrence travelling to No. 3 Colts Neck.
Also in CJ III, No. 5 Northern Burlington traveles to No. 4 Jackson Liberty.