On Oct. 2, boys soccer squared off against Pingry: a match that had been highly anticipated by both sides. Ranked No. 3 in the state, Pingry was expected to leave with another win to add to their 8-1 record. However, despite Hillsborough’s ranking at 18, Pingry knew that this year Hillsborough squad had stepped up their game.  

“I knew that we were in their heads coming in,” senior Jake Laifer said, “I think they thought we lost all our talent, but my thoughts were confident in that we were gonna take them on the whole game.”

Even though Hillsborough had beaten them the past two times they’ve played, one of them being in the county final last year, Pingry had always been a difficult opponent and Hillsborough was prepared both physically and mentally coming into this game.

The match had spectators on the edge of their seats as the score was deadlocked at 0-0 until the second half. Finally, with only 20 minutes left in the game, Laifer scored a goal for Boro. 

“I was ecstatic after the goal but I knew it was not going to be the end of the battle,” Laifer said, “I knew Pingry was going to keep knocking after.”

Laifer had predicted correctly, as Pingry tied up the score once again with only 3 minutes left in the game, leading to overtime. During the first overtime, both teams seemed to be evenly matched with no goals scored for either school, which lead to yet another stalemate and a second overtime. Then, during the second overtime, junior Adam Sonbol scored the winning goal for Boro ending the game with a 2-1 final score.

“It felt unreal and I could not believe that we had beaten them,” Sonbol said, “I knew we deserved to win, but I couldn’t believe that it was me who scored the winning goal.”

By beating some of their toughest competition, boys soccer proves once again that they are a team not to be underestimated.