Bridgewater-Raritan Girls Soccer Knocks Off Top-Seeded Scotch Plains

The Bridgewater-Raritan High School girls soccer team advanced to the NJSIAA Group IV state tournament finals, after beating Scotch Plains-Fanwood 4-2, Monday, according to MyCentralJersey.com.

The Panthers will face Watchung Hills Regional in the finals on Thursday.

Bridgewater-Raritan scored early and held a 3-0 lead at halftime. 

“We talked all year about fixing our mistakes from the past and having a bit of redemption and a chip on our shoulder,” Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Chris Gerber told NJ.com. “This team sent us home. We didn’t want to have that feeling walking off this field like we did last year.”

Lauren Hall scored the first goal for the Panthers, just four minutes into the game. That was followed by goals by Kelsey Coulter at the 18:59 mark of the first half, and one by Aspen Schneider about five minutes later.

Scotch Plains-Fanwood charged out in the second half to score in the first minute, then again nine minutes later. 

But Hayley Soriano padded the Panther lead  at 28:49 in the second, cinching the win for Bridgewater-Raritan.