By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
Down, 2-0, and facing the end of their season, the Hillsborough High School boys soccer team rallied to top Freehold Township in the first round of the Central Jersey Group IV tournament.
In the quarterfinals, the Raiders again fell behind, 2-0, but this time it was too much for 11th-seeded Hillsborough to overcome in a 2-1 loss at third-seeded Manalapan.
”It was a close game,” said Raiders head coach Eric Puma. “We had good chances. We weren’t fortunate enough to put them away, but we created four or five good chances.”
The Raiders gave up a goal a minute before halftime, and then 20 minutes into the second half, they found themselves trailing by two goals. That’s when the fight that has characterized this year’s Raiders group materialized.
”We came right back to make it 2-1,” Puma said. “We almost equalized.”It didn’t matter if they were up against someone older, stronger, they just kept fighting. We pushed this team right to edge.”
Gareth Dennis deposited the lone goal of the game for the Raiders off a feed from Andrew Patterson. Bryan Yaskowski finished an outstanding season with 10 saves as Hillsborough closed with a 9-9-4 record. Manalapan emerged with a 19-3-1 record.
”There were times when we were punching above our weight and other times where there was more we could have done,” Puma said. “I think given those swings, some losing streaks and winning streaks, maybe things wound up where they should have been. There were times where we were definitely overachieving and some times where there was something more to be done, some ties that we could have pulled it out.”
The Raiders will graduate nine seniors that were critical pieces in their return to the Somerset County Championship game. Hillsborough will lose the most at the defensive end.
”The goalkeeper was a starter, three defenders were starters, a midfielder and a forward,” Puma said. “Maybe six of the nine were starters and the others were definitely contributors. They came off the bench and helped us in every game.”
Some of them had bigger roles than the year before, and they helped to bring along the sophomores and juniors that the Raiders used.
”We had some good wins,” Puma said. “Pingry was the peak of our season. We also beat Scotch Plains. We beat Hunterdon Central. Those seniors stepped in, whether it was their first year or not and they did very well. They definitely rose to the occasion.
”We’ve got about four sophomores on the team. It’s very encouraging. The future is bright. Half the team is leaving and half the team is staying. The seniors provided great leadership. We had success this season and it makes the younger kids hungry to come back and see what we can do next year and maybe change from being a younger guy on the team to a leader.”
It will help the budding leaders that they have gone through this season and seen the highs and lows. As they head into the offseason, they can do so building on the memories of the year.
”We had some really satisfying wins,” Puma said. “When I think of this group, I’ll definitely think of our win at Pingry to get to the county final again. I’ll think of beating Scotch Plains. I’ll think of our win against Central.
”And away at Freehold, down 2-0 at half, faced with the end of our season it didn’t happen at Manalapan and we worked hard at the end but we were faced with that situation. It’s difficult to face the end of your season and fight back from the edge. They did a great job. Those are great moments for the team.”
