Bridgewater Pulls Historic Upset, Wins Tournament of Champions Crown

The gritty and determined  boys lacrosse team beat two-time defending Tournament of Champions winner Summit 6-5 Saturday to capture the 2011 TOC crown at Rutgers University's Yurcak Field.

The Panthers' victory snapped the Hilltoppers' 68-game winning streak, dating back to April 1, 2009.

For video highlights and postgame interviews, click here.

Bridgewater-Raritan (21-2) beat Group 2 champion Summit (23-1) at its own game, playing tough defense, picking up every loose ball and making huge plays late to give the Panthers the lead and the huge upset win.

"Today's game was a dogfight," Bridgewater-Raritan coach Chuck Apel said.  "Every play was a nail-biter. Summit is an outstanding team and we are excited to get this big win."

The fourth quarter started out as a physical defensive battle for both teams until Bridgewater's Scott Bieda scored on a nice feed from Tyler Barbarich at the 8:49 mark to give the Panthers a 5-4 lead.

Summit had few more chances to score after  a couple of shots missed wide, but the defense of the Panthers also choked off Summit's passes in front of the net.

After Bridgewater got the ball back with more than three minutes left in regulation, junior Ray Mastroianni scored what proved to be the game-winning, unassisted goal.

"We needed to press hard in the fourth quarter and I was just happy to be able to score, especially on this field," the Rutgers-bound Mastroianni said.

Terry McKenna, who played a valiant game, gave Summit a fighting chance in the waning moments of the game by scoring his third goal to make it 6-5.  The Hilltoppers battled, but could not score again. 

"Our kids laid it all on the line today with no regrets," Summit coach Jim Davidson said. "We knew Bridgewater was a very good team and  they made key plays here and there during the game to beat us. The 68-game streak is a tribute to these great kids and they represented Summit well."

Summit got on the scoreboard first with an unassisted goal by McKenna at the 10:18 mark of the first quarter. Bridgewater attackman Scott Bieda answered right back to tie the score at 1.

McKenna quicky returned the favor with another goal off of a Sonny Round assist to take back the lead, 2-1.

Tough defense by Bridgewater caused a few Summit turnovers in the first quarter and the Hilltoppers also became a bit sloppy with their passing game.

With 42 seconds left in the first quarter, Bridgewater's Ryan Hollingsworth tied the game at 2 off a pass from Bieda.

Bridgewater picked up most of the loose ground balls early in the game and the Panthers took advantage of their possessions.

The Panthers opened the second quarter with a quick score by Tyler Konen from a wicked pass by Bieda to give Bridgewater a 3-2 edge.

Konen struck again a few minutes later with another big goal from an assist by Barbarich to put Bridgewater up 4-2.

Round, who kept the Hilltoppers' streak alive by scoring the winning five-overtime goal against Chatham in the quarterfinals, stepped up to drill home a goal at the 6:44 mark of the second quarter from a Tommy Celmer assist to pull the game closer at 4-3.

The Hilltoppers seemed to pick up momentum and possessed the ball longer in the period, but a few saves by Bridgewater goalie Zach Jones and shots that went off the posts stalled Summit's scoring opportunities as Bridgewater maintained a 4-3 lead at halftime.

During the intermission, both coaches offered words of advice and encouragement for their teams.

"I just said to my team keep playing hard and go get ground balls," Apel said. "We also made a few adjustments on offense."

McKenna said, "Coach Davidson told us at halftime to leave it all out on the field, no matter what and keep playing our game."

At 9:54 in the third quarter, Summit battled back to tie the game at 4 on a goal by Nick Kilkowski, who was battling an aggressive Panther defense in front of the net the entire game.

Summit had the ball longer again in the third quarter, but turnovers stalled the Hilltoppers' efforts on offense.

Summit goalie Peter Badgley made a nice play to save a Bridgewater goal that seemed to hit the corner of the net, but Summit turned the ball over on the next possession.

Summit scored what appeared to be the go-ahead goal late in the third quarter, but the referee determined time had expired and disallowed the tally.

"We played hard and hit the pipes three or four times," McKenna said. "Our luck just ran out."

And the Panthers' fortunes continued.

"We came out firing," Bieda said, "and our defense did a fantastic job controlling the game, that's why we won."