Bitter Defeat Motivates Bridgewater-Raritan Girls' Soccer Team

Press release from the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District.

BRIDGEWATER, NJ —A painful memory of the past will provide a motivation that could result in an enjoyable memory in the future.

That is what the dreams are for the girls’ soccer players at Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School this coming season.

The 2020-2021 season came to a crushing ending on that warm and sunny November 9 afternoon when Bridgewater-Raritan and Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School battled through a scoreless regulation and two overtimes to determine what team would go on to the championship game in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 state sectional tournament.

The winner would be determined by penalty kicks–that Scotch Plains-Fanwood would eventually win by a 3-2 score. The Union County team then went on to meet rival Westfield High School in the state sectional title game while the Bridgewater-Raritan players were left to feel the sting of having their season come to a close on their own turf field.

But that bitter defeat has served as a motivator to this current Bridgewater-Raritan group of players and their coach, Sean Casey.

“We keep thinking about that season-ending loss to Scotch Plains-Fanwood,” said one of the senior captains, Caitlin Dzuroska, a forward/back. “We have something to prove this year. We want to finish our senior year strong.”

Midfielder Amnda Winchock, another captain, felt the same as her classmate.
“We really want to end our senior year on a good note," Winchock added.

The defeat in the state sectional semifinals to Scotch Plains-Fanwood, which then lost to Westfield, which then went on to win the overall Group 4 state championship and finish the year as the top-ranked team in all of New Jersey, can not overshadow what was a very successful fall of 2021 at Bridgewater-Raritan.

The Panthers claimed their fourth straight Somerset County Tournament championship and closed with a 12-4–3 record.

“The girls told me that they want to repeat as the county champion,” said Casey, who is in his second year as the head skipper of the school’s girls’ team. “We have a tremendous legacy here.”

Four players off of last year's unit are presently playing on the collegiate level, according to Casey, who had previously served as the freshman boys’ soccer coach for nine years at Bridgewater-Raritan.

“We are confident because we have a nice blend of soccer players," Casey claimed.

He also pointed out that a fierce schedule also includes two other teams in North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 that were county champions a season ago. Besides the Panthers who won Somerset County, Westfeld won Union County and Hunterdon Central Regional High School captured the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex crown.

“We will be battle tested," Casey said as he also reported that the Panthers will meet up this season with Freehold Township High School, which fell to Westfield in the Group 4 state title game last fall.

Midfielder Annie Clapp, the other senior captain, is optimistic that she and her teammates can overcome a rugged schedule. She felt that the younger players have the potential to step up and thrive.

“We are a pretty young team but we are working hard and we are staying positive,” said Clapp, who is headed to Drexel University next year. “We have super technicians and we are super quick. We will be better than people expect.”

The three captains will team with senior classmates, forwards Kaelyn Corbitt, Maryjo Santana and Bridget Sweet, backs Natalie Gaunt, Sara Hoffman, Chloe Ly, Brianna Reimann and Kaitlyn Trebino and goalie Olivia Peters.

The underclassmen who will contribute are juniors, forward Sophia Maslo, midfielders Aubrey Bartolotto and Sara Bengali, backs Skylar Leung and Andriana Minerva and goalie Sophie Mendoza, sophomores, midfielders Audra Day, Grace Drumgool and Audrey Martinho and freshmen, forward Kayla Davidson and midfielder Reese Reimann.

“With our schedule we may take some licks, but we will give some out, too,” Casey predicted.

This press release was produced by the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.