SPF boys soccer remains undefeated with win over Bridgewater-Raritan

For the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School boys soccer team, Saturday's game against Bridgewater-Raritan was all about working to overcome adversity.

The Raiders (8-0) found themselves down 1-0 in the first half, then were forced to play with 10 men after being dealt a red card with 20:51 left to play in the second. But Scotch Plains-Fanwood bounced back, thanks to two goals from junior John Murphy, which propelled it to a 2-1 win over the previously undefeated Panthers (5-1).

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"We definitely knew both teams were undefeated, we knew it's a big Group IV game, so we expected to win for sure," Murphy said. "Obviously they got the first one and we had to fight back. We knew we were never out of it because we've come back before, so we knew we just had to fight back and get two."

Scotch Plains-Fanwood, No. 1 in the Courier News Top 10, has now outscored opponents 32-4 in its eight games this season, and the Panthers joined a selective few teams that were able to score against the Raiders.

Bridgewater-Raritan senior forward Nate Race gave Bridgewater-Raritan a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the contest when he took control of the ball around midfield, raced towards the goal, beat his defender and sent a shot past Raiders goalie Sean Murray. The Panthers' defense made the goal stand up into halftime.

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"We've been one-nil down this season already, so we just didn't get down ourselves," Murphy said. "Even when we were a man down when it was 1-1, but we knew if we kept fighting, at halftime we said if we match the intensity then our soccer will come out and beat them."

The momentum started to shift in Scotch Plains-Fanwood's direction in the second half, and the Raiders took advantage when Murray scored on an assist from senior Robert Devine-Gelling with 28:59 remaining in the game. With 12:10 to play, junior Thomas DeVizio took a corner kick, which he sent past the net to where Murphy was waiting, and he scored for the 2-1 advantage.

"At halftime all the coaches were saying we have to keep our composure, but we did good with it, we had to deal with it," DeVizio said of the Raiders getting cards. "We got the red card, we stuck well with it, we played man down and still got a goal and we won so it was good."

The game was pretty evenly played, with the Panthers taking six shots and Scotch Plains-Fanwood taking seven. Both Murray and Bridgewater-Raritan goalie Calum Erlenborn made two saves.

For Bridgewater-Raritan, which was coming off a 3-2 overtime win over reigning Somerset County Tournament co-champion Pingry, Saturday's game marked the second time it had allowed two goals this season, after allowing just three goals in five games and posting three shutouts.

Staff Writer Lauren Knego: lknego@gannettnj.com; on Twitter: @laurenknego