Glen Ridge Lacrosse

The Glen Ridge Ridgers lacrosse team represents Glen Ridge High School in the NJSIAA in the Group 1 division. Its home games are played at Watsessing Field in Bloomfield, NJ. Carl Houser has served as its head coach since the program's inception in 2000. It became a member of the Gill Gibbs Conference for men's lacrosse in 2011.

The Ridgers were a member of the Kimber Conference from 2002-2004 winning the conference title in 2004. From 2005-2011 the Ridgers were members of the Waterman Conference winning back-to-back conference titles in 2009 and 2010.

The Ridgers have reached the NJSIAA state tournament 12 times in its 13 years as a varsity program. In 2011 the Ridgers claimed its first Essex County title beating Coach Houser's alma mater Seton Hall Prep 9-7. Glen Ridge has produced 7 All Americans, 2 Academic All Americans, 4 Conference POY, 2 Essex County POY, 1 NJ Goalie of the Year and 1 NJ Defenseman of the Year in its 15 years of existence.

History

Beginnings

From the help of many parents and supporters, in the fall of 2000 the idea of creation of a lacrosse program was brought to the attention of the athletic department and school board. WIth the help of the athletic director Lou Calderone, the lacrosse program was born. A Glen Ridge native and then an assistant coach at Seton Hall Preparatory School Carl Houser was hired as the head coach.

In The Spring of 2001 compiled of mostly underclassmen, the first Glen Ridge lacrosse team took the field. As a first year program, they competed at the junior varsity level playing against the likes of some of the most talented teams in the state of New Jersey going 8-10. As year two approached, they entered in the Kimber Conference in their first year as a varsity program. The Ridgers battled every game showing they can compete at a Varsity level though registering a 5-10 record. This would be a sign of good things to come.

With the recent success so early in the program's history, a massive addition of talented players made the 2003 team a team to do great things. Glen Ridge posted a record of 16-3 winning the Kimber Conference for the first time and became eligible for the NJSIAA State Tournament making it to the quarterfinals losing to Moorestown.

The next few years saw stars emerge such as Alex Lopes and Jack Davis. Alex Lopes owns the career points and career assist records at Glen Ridge and his 217 assists ranks third all-time in New Jersey. He was also the first Ridger to get a Division 1 Scholarship going to St. Joseph's University. Jack Davis became Glen Ridge's first All-American at Glen Ridge and owns the career saves record at Glen Ridge. Davis also earned a Division 1 scholarship to Georgetown. With these players among other talented individuals, Glen Ridge became a team that could surprise people though being a very young program. That showed in the Essex County tournament semi-finals versus cross town foe Montclair. Montclair is a Group 4 school known for its history and winning tradition; they were also the favorites to win the County Tournament. Glen Ridge would create some of their own history defeating the Mounties creating some buzz around the state.

New Generation

After Several Years of creating the foundation the program needed, Glen Ridge started to see success brewing. In 2009 and 2010 led by strong senior classes, Glen Ridge won back to back Waterman conference championships and reached the Essex County Tournament final in those years ultimately falling in both game. Nick DePhillips and Troy Catalano both b won the Waterman Conference player of the year award in their respective senior seasons. Troy also went on to become the second Ridger to earn All-American honors.

2011 was a historic year for the Glen ridge lacrosse program. Led by NJ Goalie of the Year and All-American Mac Davis as well as All-Americans Matt McMahon and Elijiah ContE, the Ridgers had their most successful season to date winning both the Essex County championship and the Group 1 championship. The season saw a changing of the guard by beating some top tier programs such as Montclair and Ridgewood and losing to rival Group 1 program Mountain Lakes in the final seconds. Most years the Ridgers would be happy with those results but they were not happy with just a few wins in the regular season. Glen Ridge went on beat Seton Hall Prep in the County championship a team they had lost to in the championship the year before. After avenging their regular season loss to Mahwah in the Group 1 semi-final, the Ridgers beat Mountain Lakes by a score of 9-8 in the Group 1 championship also avenging their regular season loss. It was the program's first championship and a sign of things to come. The Ridgers went on to lose to the Delbarton School in the Tournament of Champions quarterfinals but set the precedent for future years to come.

The 2012 season led by All-Americans Jamie Smith and John Winchell and All-State Ridger Matt Lander saw similar success . The 2012 Ridgers found a way despite a few key losses in the regular season to bounce back and capture the Essex County championship for the second consecutive year beating Seton Hall Prep 16-10. With the county championship under their belt, they felt there was something special coming together. Their season would extend all the way to the Group 1 championship beating rival Mountain Lakes in the semi-final on their own field. The championship saw a matchup with powerhouse program Summit; a team that until last year had won 66 straight games. Down 9-4 in the fourth quarter, Glen Ridge clawed their way back to make it a one-goal game with two minutes left ultimately losing by a score of 9-8. It was a valiant effort and a season that saw no drop in success showing the Glen Ridge program was a program that has arrived playing tough with the best teams in New Jersey.

In the past two years, Glen Ridge has reached the Group 1 semi-finals and Group 1 North final. This is showing that Carl Houser and the Glen Ridge program are building a winning tradition and consistent success year in and year out.

Carl Houser III

Houser as Head Coach

Carl Houser has been the head coach of Glen Ridge since the lacrosse program started in 2001. In his 14-year tenure he has complied a record of 156-89 (.64 winning %) and lead his teams to the state tournament 12 out of the 13 years as a varsity program. Houser in his career has won 3 Conference Championships, 2 Essex County Championships, and a Group 1 State Championship. in 2004 Houser won the Kimber Conference "Coach of the Year" leading his team to a 16-4 record winning the Kimber Conference. Houser then went on to win back-to-back "Coach of the Year" awards in 2009 and 2010 leading both teams to the Waterman Conference championship. In 2011 under Houser, the Ridgers had their most successful year in its short history posting a record of 15-4 and going on to win Glen Ridge's first Essex County title and Group 1 state title finishing as the #6 ranked team in New Jersey. In 2011 Houser went on to win Gibbs Conference "Coach of the Year" and

Houser as Assistant Coach

Houser took over the FreshMen team responsibilities in 1992 for his alma mater Seton Hall Prep only being a year removed from being a player there. After three seasons of coaching the freshmen team, he got promoted to coach the junior varsity level. He would not stay there long because after one season he was promoted again to become the assistant varsity coach as the defensive coordinator. He was the assistant at Seton Hall until 2000 when his hometown Glen Ridge started a lacrosse program and he took the head coaching job.

Group 1 results year-by-year

Players

All-Time Stat Leaders

Special Accomplishments

Alumni in College

The following Glen Ridge lacrosse players are currently or have played lacrosse at the collegiate level.