Bridgewater-Raritan boys lacrosse wins Somerset County Tournament

BRIDGEWATER - The Bridgewater-Raritan High School boys lacrosse team wasn't about to let a little rain stop it from winning another Somerset County Tournament title on Saturday afternoon.

As a nor'easter wiped out the majority of Saturday's scholastic sports schedule, the top-seeded Panthers met with third-seeded Montgomery in the SCT final at Torpey Field to see which team could withstand the elements and earn the title. In the end, it was Bridgewater-Raritan that was victorious, beating the Cougars 12-7 and winning its third-straight county tournament crown and sixth overall.

Saturday's win boosted the Panthers to a 15-0 record and marked their 57th victory in their last 58 games. Last season, Bridgewater-Raritan had a 42-game win streak going that included all of the 2015 season, but that run came to a halt in the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions semifinals. The Panthers fell to Pingry 8-7 to end their season, but they started this year with a clean slate and a new streak.

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The Panthers' Ethan Locker, who scored twice on Saturday, credits the team's ability to win games on its chemistry.

"It feels awesome, I'm really excited to play with a great group of kids, I love these guys, they're my brothers and I'm looking forward to states, I'm psyched," Locker said. "We're a very close knit group of guys, we're hanging out after practice, we're all really close with each other, we're all really good friends. We've been playing together for 10 years at this point."

There were three ties and three lead changes as Montgomery and Bridgewater-Raritan met for the first time since last year's Group IV final. At the start, it looked like the Panthers might run away with the game, scoring three-straight goals. The Cougars (12-4) fought back in the final minute, scoring twice to cut the lead to one after the first quarter.

Nico Ipeker, who leads the team with 51 goals and 12 assists, recorded a hat trick and gave the Cougars its first lead of the game, 4-3, after scoring back-to-back goals to open the second quarter. The scoring then back and forth and Bridgewater-Raritan held a 6-5 lead at the half.

Montgomery gave the Panthers a fight in the third quarter as the Cougars held the ball for nearly the entire 12 minutes. They took four shots on goal but the Bridgewater-Raritan defense, which has allowed an average of four goals a game this year, held off the charge. The Panthers got the ball back with under four minutes to play and scored three goals in 3:47 to take a 9-6 lead after three.

"We just played our game," Locker said. "Coach told us to move the ball around smart, play quick, solid defense, ground balls, that's what we focus our game on, all ground balls."

Montgomery cut the lead to 9-7 at the start of the fourth, but Bridgewater-Raritan scored three more goals to ice the game for the win, putting a stop to the Cougars' seven-game win streak.

"It's big, coming off a huge win against Montgomery," Locker said. "We were nervous coming into the game, they have Jared (Reinson), who is going to Johns Hopkins, he's a solid player so that's a big win under our belts."

Nick Attanasio and Sean MacKinney led the way for the Panthers with two goals and two assists apiece. Alden Christensen, who has scored four goals all season, scored twice. Goalie Kyle O'Neil finished with 15 saves.

For Montgomery, Dan Engels added two goals and one assist. Jared Reinson and Joe Mercurio each tallied one goal and one assist. Freshman goalie Noah Lin finished with seven saves.

With another Somerset County Tournament title under its belt, Bridgewater-Raritan now turns its attention to the state tournament, which is set to begin on Wednesday. The Panthers are looking to keep the win streak alive, and have set their sights on making another run to the Tournament of Champions. If Montgomery can stay hot as well, the two teams have a chance of again meeting in the Group IV final.

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