Bridgewater-Raritan girls lacrosse keeps rolling, wins sixth-straight SCT title
BRIDGEWATER —The only thing that can apparently stop the Bridgewater-Raritan High School girls lacrosse team from winning a Somerset County Tournament title is a pandemic. The Panthers remain the class of the county after a two-year tournament break forced by COVID-19.
Top-seed and unbeaten B-R (17-0) controlled first half pace Saturday, withstood four unanswered Pingry goals in the second half with five of its own and won 15-8 at the Torpey Athletic Complex.
The Panthers won their sixth-straight county title and 10th overall. The No. 2 seed Big Blue (14-3) were seeking their first-ever title.
Bridgewater-Raritan beat Pingry 9-5 in a April 5 regular season game that was crucial in its winning a Skyland Conference Delaware Division title.
“We work hard, the girls work hard, we try to keep them as humble as possible because on any given day it might not be there,” B-R coach Kathy De Bonis said. “We set our goals and expectations super high and the girls just step up and meet the expectations.”
The Big Blue did make a big run in the second half. They cut a 10-4 Panther cushion with 20:39 left in regulation to 10-8 with four goals in four minutes. But the Panthers outscored Pingry 5-0 from there.
“We just became a little complacent at that point," De Bonis said. "We just needed to regroup and just go back to playing our game. Our whole objective was to get back to the game plan. I think we stepped up and started winning the draws again.”
Key Plays
Junior Bella Godwin’s goal cut B-R’s lead to 10-8 with 16:57 left in regulation. Not long after, senior defender Allison Williams left the game and didn’t return. Panthers’ junior Kelly MacKinney scored with 14:53 to play to stop Pingry’s run and give her team an 11-8 lead. MacKinney scored again at 12:50 to make it 12-8 and freshman Emma Ciocon extended the lead to 13-8 with 9:22 remaining.
Game Balls
B-R senior goalie Gia Mitchell made her 400th career save with 10:39 left in the first half. She made her 300th in a 9-5 win April 5 against Pingry.
They Said It
“We knew they were going to be a good team, we knew they were going to come out hard so we should come out harder,” said Ciocon, who finished with three goals.
“It was a complete team effort, any time I make a save it’s because my defenders get me the shots I want to see, so I’m excited but it’s all to them,” said Mitchell. “I did not know how close I was. I got 300 earlier this season so I wasn’t sure how close I got. Like I said it’s a team effort, I’m excited that I have the opportunity to hit 400 and play on this team and playing against great teams like this.”
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Bridgewater-Raritan girls lacrosse wins sixth-straight SCT title
