By, Kyle Alves-Ferreira
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. – The #12 Bridgewater-Raritan Panthers (13-2) advanced to the Somerset County Tournament Final thanks to a 16-2 win over the Bernards Mountaineers (8-10) Wednesday afternoon. The Panthers have now scored 33 goals in their past two games, with 17 coming vs Immaculata last Saturday.
At this point, it’s basically guaranteed that these two schools make it this far in their county tournament. Every season, it feels like these great public schools are among the best in their area. Their journeys to Wednesday’s semifinal contest, however, have been vastly different.
For the home side, Bridgewater entered Wednesday as one of the state’s elite teams, having beaten everyone on their schedule except #13 Pingry and #9 Rumson-Fair Haven. On the attack, they have been outstanding in finding scores, leading the Skyland Conference in goals.
It helps that for them, Rutgers commit Declan Kurdyla, has been sensational in his senior year. Entering the contest with 37 goals and 66 points, the way Declan has been playing is reminiscent of his brother, Colin. Colin was among New Jersey’s best players during his playing days at Bridgewater and Declan has shown that he’s just as good.
Heading north on I-287, Bernards entered Wednesday’s game on good footing, unlike how they started the season. Playing in the NJILL’s Waterman Division is not easy for anyone, especially when teams have to face the likes of Scotch Plains-Fanwood and West Morris Central. After enduring a six game losing streak earlier in the campaign, the Mountaineers have gotten back on track.
Thanks to the incredible work of Cornell commit Logan Stevens, Bernards once again found themselves at the doorsteps of the County Final. After falling to Pingry in the semifinal round of the county tournament last season, Bernards hoped that this was the year they got back to the Final. When they last made it to the Final in 2024, Bernards beat Bridgewater in that season’s semifinal round.
Bridgewater’s last appearance in the County Final came back in 2023 when they lost to Pingry. In 2023’s semifinal round, the Panthers took down Bernards as the one seed. As the one seed again and Bernards as the fourth seed, Bridgewater believed destiny was calling them.
Indeed it was.
Right from the gate, Bridgewater was simply the better squad on the field Wednesday. From a depth standpoint, from a physicality standpoint, from a playmaking standpoint, Bridgewater dominated Bernards the entire game.
Throughout the first half of the contest, Bernards had no answers for Bridgewater’s high-powered attack. By halftime, the aforementioned Kurdyla recorded a hat-trick, along with Air Force commit Jack Cifuentes. Up 11-0 at the half, there was no stopping the Panthers from advancing to the County Final.
Another factor in Wednesday’s victory for the home side was the stellar play of senior goalie, Reid Feinstein. The Iona commit was phenomenal between the pipes, recording 15 saves, and allowing no goals in the first half. Despite allowing two goals in the second half of the contest, Feinstein was unbreakable and was determined to stop everything coming his way.
Wednesday’s game provided confidence for Bridgewater, who will encounter second seed #14 Gill St. Bernard’s in the Somerset County Tournament Final on Saturday at Somerville. With how the Panthers have been performing throughout the county tournament, Saturday’s final will be incredible.
