The previous 20 ice hockey results between Bridgewater-Raritan High School and Ridge High School were very one-sided.
It was only a matter of time before Bridgewater-Raritan would break through.
And Wednesday, January 8, Bridgewater-Raritan, ranked No. 13 in the state, did just that.
After 17th-ranked Ridge (7-4-1) rallied from an early two-goal deficit to tie the game against Bridgewater-Raritan (10-1) after one period, senior captain Sean Fagan (three goals, two assists) delivered the go-ahead, shorthanded goal just under three minutes into the second period to begin a three-goal run and surge the Panthers ahead for good.
To cap off strong second and third periods by the Bridgewater-Raritan defense, freshman goalie Justin Madison (19 saves) thwarted a Ridge power play in the final minute of regulation to remain undefeated as a starting goalie and help his team close out a crucial 6-4 victory over Ridge at Bridgewater Sports Arena in Bridgewater.
“Our older guys have been through the wringer,” revealed Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Vincent Arnone, who led the Panthers to their first victory over Ridge since a 2-1 triumph in the Skyland Cup title game back on February 22, 2015. “They matured and developed, took their beatings, learned from that, and have gotten better and better each year. It’s culminated to the point where now they are playing winning hockey.”
“Now, we’re hoping to get to the top.”
After the Panthers defeated Ridge a whopping four times during the 2014-15 season, the Red Devils responded by going 18-0-2 against Bridgewater-Raritan with a combined margin of victory of 105-30 heading into Wednesday, January 8.
Also within this streak, the Red Devils hung four more state championship banners in their home arena, most notably via back-to-back NJSIAA Public A Ice Hockey Tournament crowns in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Fagan and his fellow Bridgewater-Raritan High School Ice Hockey Class of 2025 seniors clearly had this on their minds heading into their lone regular-season meeting with Ridge, especially given they were defeated by this juggernaut Red Devils squad three times alone as freshmen in 2021-22.
Bridgewater-Raritan (10-1, 5-1) will now ride an eight-game winning streak into its third regular-season matchup against division rival Hunterdon Central Regional High School (2-5, 1-2) next at 6:15 p.m. Friday, January 10, at Flemington Ice Arena in Flemington.
This will begin a three-game road trip for the Panthers, who will then return to Flemington Ice Arena against North Hunterdon Regional High School / Voorhees High School (7-3) at 3:15 p.m.
Monday, January 13. Bridgewater-Raritan will then strive to close out a three-game regular-season sweep of Hillsborough High School (7-3, 0-3) at 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, January 15, at ProSkate Ice Arena in Monmouth Junction.
Bridgewater-Raritan’s next home game is against Ramapo High School (7-4) at 7:40 p.m.Saturday, January 18, at Rock Ice Center in Dunellen.
“We stick to the system, do our jobs, and know what we’re good at,” concluded Fagan of Bridgewater-Raritan’s ascension over the last four seasons. “Getting beat up by all of those conference teams over the past few years, we came in this year and knew what we had to do.”
“Let’s just keep on going.”