The seniors on the boys' soccer team at Bridgewater-Raritan High School went out with a bang.
That bang was a loud 2-1 victory that not only capped the 2024 season but the careers of 18 senior players against Lawrenceville School on Senior Night.
Honored at a pregame ceremony to set the stage were the following 18 boys’ soccer players from the Bridgewater-Raritan High School Class of 2025: Andrew Childs, Ethan Danneberger, Brad Sweet, Ethan Corrales, Owen Muti, Jason Urena, Jaskeerat Dharmi, Matthew Cancela, Ramses Binns, Matias Peron, Ian Francis, Ryan Dzuroska, JD Koroneos, Joey LaStella, Michael Gagliano, Jake Cubero, Adrian Arias, and Dayron Chacon Ulloa.
While Bridgewater-Raritan (4-12-1) saw its 2024 season come to a close at the end of the night, the Panthers’ all-senior lineup went out on the strongest of notes when Bridgewater-Raritan scored the game’s first two goals against Lawrenceville (4-7-2) and never trailed in the 2-1 victory on Tuesday, October 30, in Bridgewater.
“We just kept working,” said Dharmi, who opened the scoring in his final game for Bridgewater-Raritan with an impressive goal in the 13th minute. “We love the game and we love the heart of the game. Every single practice after every loss, we came back and worked harder and harder.”
“And finally today, it paid off.”
“Playing in front of all of our fans and parents means the whole world to me and to all of the other seniors,” said Arias, the winning goalkeeper, who played the first half, made six saves and collected a clean sheet in his final game for Bridgewater-Raritan.
“Thank you to our parents, because without them, we wouldn’t be here today. I want to also thank my parents for driving me to games, and practices, paying for my equipment, and just sticking with me throughout the whole time.”
In arguably one of the game’s turning points, Arias collected back-to-back saves in both the sixth and 12th minutes to help his defense survive an early barrage of shots by Lawrenceville’s offense. Instead of the visiting Big Red striking first, including on a corner kick in the seventh minute, Bridgewater-Raritan not only responded with a shot in transition at the other end to close out that 12th minute.
On a dish from classmate Urena (one assist), Dharmi deposited the ball from long range that lifted the Panthers to a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute: a lead they would never relinquish.
“Our parents seeing us play soccer and grow through the years meant everything to us,” echoed Dharmi of the support he and his senior teammates have always had. “It finally paid off seeing our last game and winning, and I scored today, so it felt good.”
Chacon Ulloa (three saves) took over as goalkeeper in the second half for Bridgewater-Raritan, which saw Koroneos (one assist) step up to the flag for a corner kick in the 61st minute. His ball was perfectly booted in front of the net towards classmate Dzuroska, who scored on a header to double the Panthers’ lead to 2-0.
“This win tonight was just a long time coming,” said Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Mark Heinbach after the game. “I’ve been telling them all season to keep putting the work in, and it’s going to happen. It just took a little longer than we thought, but it happened, and this was a great way to walk off your senior year. These guys are going to be memorable because of the work they put in. As challenging and as frustrating as the season was at times, they never gave up.”
The coach added:
“That will stick with me for a long time.”