Girls Soccer: Bridgewater-Raritan keeps rolling with fourth shutout

BRIDGEWATER – Redemption season has certainly commenced for the Bridgewater-Raritan High School girls soccer team.

Sure, many teams could only dream about the season the Panthers had last year after they made it to the quarterfinals in both the county and sectional tournaments. But as one of the premier programs in the state, Bridgewater-Raritan felt there was some unfinished business from last year.

The Panthers continued their path to redemption with a 3-0 victory over North Hunterdon on Thursday to improve their record to an impressive 5-0. Bridgewater-Raritan has now outscored its opponents by a combined 24-1 with four shutouts along the way in the early going.

“I think we’re definitely a hungry team,” said junior Melanie Lytle, who scored one goal against the Lions. “We might not have played our best today, but that’s the thing about this team. We’ll always find a way. We have the will to win, and we’re hungry for goals.”

The Panthers’ Twitter account (@BRgirlsVsoccer) has adopted a hashtag that is typed at the end of every tweet. Now usually adorning tweets announcing lopsided victories, #redemptionszn is there at the end, and the Panthers have taken that attitude in stride.

The offensive attack has been dominant this fall, and Thursday was no different. Lytle opened the scoring with 7:02 left in the first half and then fellow junior Gianna Minerva followed with two more goals, one four minutes later and another late in the second half.

Lytle and Minerva did the damage on Thursday, but the offensive charge has been led by sophomore sensation Allison Lowrey, who has scored seven goals thus far. With countless other offensive weapons including Stephanie Lowrey (three goals), Elizabeth Hanemann (two goals) and Samantha Vail (two goals), the Panthers remains a very diverse and dangerous team on the offensive end.

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“With this team, you don’t have to worry,” Minerva said. “Once you step on that field, you know everyone is going 100 percent.”

Perhaps more impressive than the offensive explosion has been the defensive effort of the Panthers. They have allowed only one goal through five games and boast an experienced backline that consists of five returning varsity players, including center backs Cheyenna Cook and Allison Lynch.

“They know what we expect, and they know how we played,” Bridgewater-Raritan coach Chris Gerber said. “We’ve trained for two years in the same system more or less, and they’re holding their own and playing strongly.”

The Panthers ultimately fell to Mount St. Mary in the Somerset County Tournament quarterfinals and in the North 2 Group IV quarterfinals to a Ridge team that went on to play in the state final last year. Reloaded with plenty of talent, the Panthers are well on their way to their redemption season even if some might not consider them as the favorite in the state tournament. There’s certainly 27 determined girls who think otherwise.

“We have the potential to go all the way,” Lytle said. “Everyone on this team is essential for winning, and I think everybody gives their all when they go on the field. You can be confident that who you’re playing with is going to help.”

Staff Writer Daniel LoGiudice can be reached at dlogiudice@gannettnj.com. Follow him on Twitter @danny_logiudice.