After an intense game against rival Somerville High school in the 2025 Girls Soccer Somerset County tournament, Hillsborough won 1-0 and advanced to the next round of counties.
“Both sides really wanted the win and the game went well,” said senior captain Jeeya Patel, “Our team worked hard and it paid off.”
Both teams focused on playing defensively in the first half while still trying to be the first one to make a goal. Every player that ran on the field exhibited determination that radiated off the field; from every field kick to every close call. The Raiders’ guard held strong to prevent the opposing team from finding any opportunity to score. The starting goalie for Somerville saved any shots that dared to enter the goal. Until the last few minutes, when an amazing shot from Patel made it in the bottom left corner just slipping away from the goalie.
“Making any goal is a great feeling, but to be honest, at the moment, the focus is just to continue playing the game to make sure we can secure the win, Patel said. “I may have scored the goal, but there’s no way I could have done it without my team. So the winning goal was truly a result of our team’s effort and we are very excited to move onto the next round.”
Hillsborough was first on the scoreboard, putting the team in the good spot to hold the lead.
“It can be kind of nerve-racking towards the end, but it’s important to stay composed because one small slip up, especially being in the back, can cause your team the entire game,” said sophomore goalie Ania Nevaeh Lopez-Acuña.
Going into the second half, Hillsborough looked to get another goal or at least hold their lead to win. Somerville fought to get the ball past Lopez-Acuña but she made great saves and helped her team bring the ball up the field to the other side for a goal.
At 27 minutes, senior Julia Brouillette stepped off the field for the rest of the game due to a knee injury which forced the team even more to focus on the win. The Raiders were not going to let Somerville use this time to communicate and come up with a game plan. Their only chance to stay in the game was to at least tie the game, all Hillsborough had to do was work hard until the time ran out. Somerville earned a few continuous fouls as the pressure to make a goal heightened.
An offside call on Hillsborough prevented the girls from earning another point from a corner kick. In the last three minutes of the game, Somerville earned a free kick but it was saved by Lopez-Acuña.
“The game was very successful. We won by scoring in the first half, and keeping our team going without letting Somerville score for the entire second half,” said senior captain Elizabeth Wilke, “Nobody broke any records, but we’ve had a couple in the past few games. For one, our goalie Ania hit 200 saves as a sophomore and our assistant coach has hit 50 wins.”
“We had a rough start of the season, we played against a lot of quality opponents. After a start of 1-6-1 we did improve and are currently back on 6-6-1 so we did turn our season around,” said Varsity coach Lenner Bitter.
The team qualified for the quarterfinals of the county tournament and was hoping to keep their win streak alive. On Oct. 14 they played against Immaculata High School, but fell short with a 3-0 loss. The team also advanced to semifinals, but fell short against Manalapan ‘3-0. Freehold ultimately took the title.
