Set tone for season with impressive romp
By: Rudy Brandl
The Hillsborough High boys’ soccer team has officially established itself as the team to beat in the Skyland Conference Delaware Division.
Last Friday’s resounding and impressive 5-1 pasting of rival Bridgewater-Raritan proved the Raiders are playing on a higher level this fall. The victory also gave Hillsborough a two-game lead over Bridgewater, Hunterdon Central and Franklin in the divisional race.
"We’re beginning to put the pieces together at the right time," HHS veteran head coach Rob Richard said after his biggest goal-differential victory over Bridgewater in well over a decade. "Now, it’s going to be a real struggle for teams to catch up with us. We have the hardest part of our schedule out of the way."
Friday’s victory improved Hillsborough’s division record to 5-0. Four of those victories have come on the road and the Raiders haven’t played Watchung Hills or Phillipsburg yet. Those two teams are regarded as the weakest in the division, so the Raiders could very well be 7-0.
Hillsborough was set to start its second trip through the division with games vs. North Hunterdon and Hunterdon Central this week. Six of the team’s nine remaining games in the Delaware will be played at home on the Auten Road School field.
The Raiders certainly enjoyed their first home game in a big way. They dominated in all phases of the game and never gave the Panthers a chance, scoring two goals in the first 13 minutes.
"We played nice soccer today," said senior center midfielder Scott Visnic, who led the charge with two goals and two assists. "We kept the ball on the ground and their defense was flat and didn’t have the speed that Lamar (Spencer) had. It was off to the races the whole game. Everyone was working hard to get Lamar the ball."
Spencer started the barrage with a goal in the sixth minute off a feed from Eric Pyne. The speedy Spencer beat the defense and retrieved a feed from Pyne before nailing a 15-yard shot past Dave Raphel for a 1-0 lead.
"That was a big one," Spencer said. "I wanted to get that quick goal and I worked hard for it. I took a hit, but I kept going. The thugs on our bench helped me out a lot."
Spencer broke free several times throughout the game and could have scored a bunch. He added another goal and one assist in the second half.
"Lamar came to play today," Richard said. "He wanted this game badly."
All the Raiders wanted it. They were tired of people doubting their 4-0 start. They heard the whispers that Bridgewater would provide the first real test. The Panthers strutted into town with a four-game win streak of their own, but left on the short end of a lopsided score.
"We wanted to come out here and play hard," Spencer said. "This is a big win. They’ve beaten us the last couple of years and everyone was ready to play this game."
"We’re just playing as a team," added goalkeeper Rob Szymanik, who scored the only goal the last time the Raiders beat B-R back in 1999. "There’s no bad attitudes and everyone likes each other and works hard for each other. There’s no holes."
Hillsborough exposed some holes in the Panther defense last Friday. After Spencer broke through for the first goal, Visnic made it 2-0 in the 13th minute. Visnic took a pass from Drew Dzvileski and ripped an 18-yard shot into the net.
"We were open coming down the middle the whole time," Visnic explained. "They were confused as to who to pick up. Drew played the ball around the defender and I saw the goalie at the near post, so I hit it to the far post."
That was only the beginning for the Raiders, who continued to dominate the game with their skill and speed. Visnic found Sean Pyne on a counterattack and Pyne hustled to the pass and beat the keeper for a 3-0 halftime bulge.
Richard reminded his troops during the break that the Panthers still had enough firepower to challenge in this game. The Raiders never allowed that to happen. There was no letdown by the home team in the second half.
Spencer and Visnic hooked up twice in the first 17 minutes of the second half and the Raiders cruised to victory. Visnic sent a long pass to open space and Spencer outran the defense for a breakaway goal in the 44th minute. Spencer had to collect his own rebound off the post and slam it into the net.
Visnic capped the scoring when he sprinted past the defense to drill a loose rebound of a Spencer blast into the net for the fifth and final goal.
"This is the best game we’ve played this year," Richard said. "End to end, we just played very good soccer. We had good counterattacks and took advantage of our speed up front. Visnic sliced their defense apart and Lamar’s speed made their flat back four easy pickings."
The Raiders won’t be sneaking up on anybody after posting a 5-1 win over Bridgewater. Now everyone knows they’re for real.
Visnic recently attended a leadership conference for captains and there were questions raised about which team had the best shot to win the Delaware Division. The Raiders staked their claim last Friday.
"This is a huge win," Visnic said. "We showed everybody in the conference that we’re the team to beat."

