Heading into the state sectional tournament semifinals, Ridge High School had only lost two matches against public high school teams all season.
Both of those losses were to Bridgewater-Raritan High School: once in the Somerset County Tournament quarterfinals, and once more during the regular season, for the Red Devils’ only setbacks on their home field to date.
Since the Panthers had not lost a single match to a team from a public high school all season, something had to give on Wednesday evening.
Yet the third time was the charm again for third-seeded and No. 17-ranked Bridgewater-Raritan (14-8), which completed a hat trick of triumphs this season over second-seeded and 18th-ranked Ridge (15-4-1) capped off by a 3-1 road victory in the NJSIAA North New Jersey, Section 2, Group 4, sectional semifinals on Wednesday, November 12, at Lee Field in Basking Ridge.
Now, Bridgewater-Raritan earned an opportunity to make amends for its lone setback in the aforementioned 25-match stretch.
In the other state sectional semifinals matchup, top-seeded Westfield High School (17-0), which is the defending Group 4 state champion, played to a scoreless tie in the first half against fourth-seeded Bayonne High School on November 12. Westfield, ranked No. 4 overall in New Jersey, then surged ahead to a 3-0 victory, extending its winning streak to 32 matches dating back to last season.
One of those victories during that run by the two-time reigning North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 was a 1-0 triumph over Bridgewater-Raritan in last season’s state sectional championship match. Going back to the 2021 season, Westfield has an astounding record of 89-3-5 after the victory over Bayonne, and this also includes another 4-0 victory over Bridgewater-Raritan in the 2023 state sectional semifinals.
On Saturday afternoon, November 15, the Panthers will therefore have a historic opportunity for redemption against the squad that eliminated them from each of the last two state tournaments.
“Having some confidence doesn’t hurt, and we’re a tough team,” Bridgewater-Raritan coach Sean Casey declared. “I know Westfield is tremendous, but we’re not going to be intimidated, and we’re going to go after them on Saturday.”
The kickoff between the Panthers and Blue Devils in the NJSIAA North New Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 championship match will be at 12 p.m. at Gary Kehler Stadium in Westfield.
“We all just have to keep working our hardest as a team,” said freshman Juliet Casamento of the upcoming match.
The winner between Bridgewater-Raritan and Westfield not only will be crowned the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 champion, but will most importantly serve as host to the Group 4 state semifinals against the North Jersey, Section 1, Group 4 champion, which will be either Ridgewood High School (15-6-1) or No. 19-ranked Livingston High School (17-3-1).
Westfield and Bridgewater-Raritan both entered the state tournament with a higher number of Power Points than Ridgewood and Livingston. Therefore, according to NJSIAA Soccer Tournament regulations, the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 winner would have home-field advantage for the Group 4 state semifinals, currently scheduled for Wednesday, November 19.
The South Jersey, Group 4 champion —either Central Regional High School (18-1-1) or Cherokee High School (16-5-1) —will advance to face either No. 5-ranked Manalapan High School (20-0) or Freehold Township High School (9-10-2) from the Central Jersey, Group 4 bracket.
Following these two state semifinal matches, the Group 4 state championship game is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Sunday, November 23, at Franklin Township High School in Somerset.
In the victory over Ridge, Bridgewater-Raritan was prepared for its opponent.
“They didn’t really know us well the first and second time,” reflected after the match Bridgewater-Raritan junior backfielder Stella Grant, whose team previously defeated Ridge in Bridgewater back on October 14 in the Somerset County Tournament quarterfinals, 2-1, before handing the Red Devils a 4-1 regular-season loss in Basking Ridge just 10 days later. “The third time, there were no secrets. We were talking to each other, communicating with each other, and staying in for all 80 minutes.”
“We all told each other that hard work was going to win this game.”
Especially in the Bridgewater-Raritan backfield, which has now conceded just six goals in its now seven-match winning streak since falling in the Somerset County Tournament to the country’s top-ranked team in Rutgers Preparatory School two and a half weeks ago.
Grant was one of these difference makers right out of the gate in round three against the Red Devils, who got a breakaway look in the second minute of the contest. However, Grant got in front of it for a clear shot, but Ridge senior Nicole Gebert fired a fourth-minute free kick into a sea of players inside of the Panthers’ box. Although the Red Devils then got the shot off, Bridgewater-Raritan’s swarming defense escaped unharmed after the ball sailed out of bounds.
While it took a little while for Bridgewater-Raritan to break the ice, the Panthers took complete control of the rest of the first half.
Seniors Hayden Tormasi (one assist) and Reese Reimann (one goal) each got behind the Red Devils’ defense just over one minute apart. Bridgewater-Raritan junior Summer Winchock’s ninth-minute shot then resulted in the game’s first save by Ridge senior goalkeeper Ava Yiu (eight saves), who then stopped two more Panthers shots just 30 seconds apart in a stretch spanning the 12th and 13th minutes. Grant then delivered another good cross from long distance to Tormasi in the 15th minute, but while she was called offside just after reaching the Red Devils’ penalty box, Bridgewater-Raritan continued to apply pressure on Ridge’s defense.
After the Red Devils failed on a pair of respectable opportunities over the next two minutes, Bridgewater-Raritan turned the match upside down.
Reimann opened the game’s scoring in the 23rd minute, and just over two minutes later, Casamento (two goals) painted the top-left corner of Ridge’s net from long range to suddenly give the Panthers a 2-0 lead late in the 25th minute.
Over the next five minutes, Grant’s perfectly timed runs in the backfield perpendicular to Ridge’s sideline on Bridgewater-Raritan’s side of the field led to successful clears. Although she only had three saves, primarily due to very few balls getting behind the Panthers’ backfield, Brooke Engstrom (three saves) then made an underhanded catch in between and proved to be a lethal insurance policy during Ridge’s most noteworthy scoring opportunities.
“Our backs were tremendous,” assessed Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Sean Casey of his defensive pieces. “Stella Grant has been unbelievable all year for us.”
“Obviously, Reese does what Reese does, but without our backs, we wouldn’t be where we are.”
After Tormasi collected the match’s first corner kick late in the 32nd minute, Casamento fired two more shots, including a putback try as time expired on a shot by Reimann to cap off Bridgewater-Raritan’s big first half.
Yiu stopped all three of these shots to keep Ridge’s deficit at 2-0, and the Red Devils took advantage of this just 12 seconds after the second-half kickoff.
On an impressive goal from just beyond midfield from Ridge sophomore Daphne Georgiades (one goal), the Red Devils immediately found themselves back in the match with its deficit cut to 2-1 and their loud home crowd starting to rally behind them.
“Give Ridge a lot of credit,” praised Coach Casey of the Red Devils’ response in the second half. “At halftime, we knew they would come out, and our speech was that we wanted to win the second half to win the game. They turned the match on its side there. It totally changed our mindset, and our kids were stunned. We had some good chances, and Ridge bent, but they did not break there. Then they got some momentum, some set pieces, and balls into the box.”
“But our kids hung in there.”
Although Bridgewater-Raritan finished with an 11-4 shot advantage, Ridge began to swing momentum entirely in its favor for the entirety of the second half. In the 52nd minute, Grant looked to clear another ball in the Panthers’ backfield, but Ridge found an opening on the ensuing throw-in.
Engstrom then made her biggest save of the match up to that point before Winchock responded with a shot that split the gap between Lee Field’s football uprights and the crossbar on top of the soccer net. This eventually led to a corner kick in the 56th minute by Reimann, but Yiu’s catch kept the match at 2-1. After Bridgewater-Raritan tallied another shot in the 65th minute, Engstrom saved another free-kick attempt by Ridge just two and a half minutes later.
The ensuing putback attempt hit the Panthers’ left crossbar to deny Ridge the equalizer, but the Red Devils’ crowd particularly came to full life after this critical moment in the 68th minute.
Sophomore Mikaela Perez, junior Maddy Corbitt (one assist), and junior Joanna Xu (one assist) continued to contribute towards Bridgewater-Raritan making timely stops, including a corner kick in the 72nd minute headed away by Perez to preserve the Panthers’ lead. One minute later, Tormasi cleared away another free kick in heavy traffic, but Ridge found itself with its best one-on-one look in the backfield in the 75th minute.
Grant did not seem intimidated, as she formed a mobile shield around Ridge’s attacker and moved all the way back to the corner flag. While the Red Devils managed to wiggle around Grant for a respectable look, the resulting direction was enough to throw off Ridge’s timing and force an offside call just as the cross was delivered near Bridgewater-Raritan’s box.
“My freshman year, I did not play a lot, but going into my sophomore year, it was the same back four that started the game,” Grant went on to say of the chemistry between her fellow three backfielders in Xu, Corbitt, and senior Kayla Davidson, who all played together in the Panthers’ previous season culminating in a trip to the state sectional finals. “Over these last two seasons, we have trusted each other so much. That’s why I know I can run across the field and shield that girl over there, because I know that they are behind me.”
“We are all so close, so it makes it so easy to just play and not worry about anything.”
Especially given the Panthers’ offense is there to follow suit at the other end of the field.
In the 78th minute, Casamento not only got behind Ridge’s defense, but managed to beat Yiu on a breakaway attempt for Bridgewater-Raritan set up by Grant’s aforementioned stop.
“Juliet got the yellow card earlier in the half, and we weren’t sure if we were going to put her back in,” revealed Casey. “We thought her speed would pay off, and it did. I’m happy for her, and she’s worked hard. Her minutes have been inconsistent, but she played a wonderful game against Ridge [October 24]. She came off of the bench that night and had her best game of the season up to that point. She didn’t score that night, but she generated four really good chances, so we went back to her early today.”
“We thought it was a good matchup, and she rewarded us for it.”
Now, she arguably has a new “best game” with many more to come for Bridgewater-Raritan.
The ensuing breakaway shot by Casamento hit nothing but net, and this silenced Ridge’s home crowd while officially punching Bridgewater-Raritan’s return ticket to the state sectional finals against a familiar foe.
“I’m a freshman and it’s still my first year on the team, so whenever I’m in, I want to prove myself and work as hard as I can,” said after the match by Casamento, who now has three career goals: all in the state tournament, to go with her first career point via an October 4 assist against Montclair High School. “It’s a new experience from [club soccer], because I’m playing with a bunch of older girls. As the season went on, I’ve been getting closer with everyone, and it makes me feel even more like a team player.”
“They are like family to me, and they make the game a lot easier.”
While its record alone may not reflect it at 14-8, all eight losses to date for Bridgewater-Raritan have come against non-public powers in No. 10 ranked Mount Saint Dominic Academy, No. 16 ranked Immaculata High School (twice), No. 9 ranked Pingry School (twice), and most notably the entire country’s top-ranked team in No. 1 Rutgers Preparatory School (three times). This included a stretch from September 24 to October 9, during which the team played one match against each of the four teams, resulting in four losses that dropped Bridgewater-Raritan's record to 5-7. The Panthers’ only other setback since then was a respectable 3-1 defeat at Rutgers Prep in the semifinal round of the Somerset County Girls’ Soccer Tournament on October 18, when a controversial foul in the penalty box led to the go-ahead penalty kick by Rutgers Prep late in an otherwise scoreless first half for both teams.
While it was a crushing way to end its run in the county tournament, Bridgewater-Raritan has since responded by playing its best soccer at the right time. Since their most recent loss at Rutgers Prep, the Panthers’ seven consecutive victories have been by a combined margin of 29-6 punctuated by a return trip to the state sectional finals.
Most importantly, with all non-public schools now in the rear-view mirror, the rest of the way, Bridgewater-Raritan is now a perfect 14-0 against teams from public high schools this fall.
“A lot of people talk about our schedule, and there’s not much we can do about it,” Casey recapped about his squad, which has now won 24 of its last 25 matches against public high schools going back to a 7-0 victory over Columbia High School back on September 30, 2024. “The same thing happened last year. We lost to Rutgers Prep in the county semifinals, but then went on an eight-game winning streak heading into the sectional finals. We were disappointed when we were eliminated [from the county tournament] because we wanted to play in the county finals, and kind of similar to last year, we reset.”
“We got back to doing what we do well, and we found our identity these last couple of weeks.”
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