Boys soccer: Hillsborough adds to its impressive resume with narrow win over BR

If Hillsborough's exuberant start to the season wasn't enough to convince its harshest critics that its culture is rapidly changing, then an examination of the postgame temperament surrounding the team on Tuesday ought to do the trick.

After a 2-1 win on the road against Bridgewater-Raritan – a team that went unbeaten last season, earned a co-championship in the Somerset County Tournament and captured a sectional title – the vibe around Hillsborough was surprisingly mellow.

The point: the win was good, but it wasn't good enough.

Hillsborough, off to an undefeated start through its first four games, added another important bullet to its resume as it continues to embark on a quest to be one of the top teams in Somerset County this season – a place that this program hasn't been to in some time. Hillsborough lasted finished over .500 in 2013.

Justin Dominique scored both goals on Tuesday, including a momentum-swinging tally in the 55th minute, to send Hillsborough on its way to the win.

"It's Bridgewater, they're always going to compete and we knew that coming in," Dominique said. "We also knew that they weren't as strong as last year and we knew that we could knock them off. We still have a big week ahead of us and we haven't proved anything yet."

Bridgewater-Raritan, certainly a different team from the one that finished ranked No. 3 in the 2017 Top 50 with new players all of the field, never wavered in a game where it hope to prove that it, too, still belongs in the conversation as one of the better teams in Somerset County.

With the game tied and Bridgewater-Raritan pushing the pace early in the second half, Dominique was played through the middle of the field with Bridgewater playing a high back line and ripped a 20-yard strike into the upper-90 to give Hillsborough the 2-1 lead in the 55th minute that it would never relinquish.

That goal helped settle Hillsborough down and saw the Raiders carry the pace of play for the rest of the half, for the most part.

"It was huge for our confidence," Hillsborough coach Eric Puma said. "A lot of this is played mentally and I think we settled down. I think they need to be comfortable realizing that it's not going to be easy. Maybe they were expecting it to come a little easier, but they have to continue to be willing to persevere, which they did. They had the confidence back and played a little more relaxed."

Bridgewater-Raritan did have a quality chance to equalize three minutes later when a corner service popped out to Nathan Bliss outside the 18-yard box. His near-perfect hit was parried over the net by Hillsborough keeper Nick Burd to keep the score at 2-1.

For Hillsborough, learning how to win tough games like these is, ultimately, a key stepping stone for where this team hopes to be in a month or two.

"They need to learn how to manage the game and have the confidence that if they keep doing their job, they're going to get a good result," Puma said. "We made it through some difficult moments. We made some mistakes and Bridgewater made us pay for those mistakes. We were able to continue to grind it out. Whenever you're playing Bridgewater away, that's not an easy game."

Dominque put Hillsborough up in the 18th minute when he collected a strike from Jake Laifer, fought through a pair of Bridgewater-Raritan defenders and finished. Bridgewater-Raritan equalized in the 36th minute off a set piece as Josh Koren cleaned up a loose ball to tie the game just before the half.

Oliver Trujillo sent in the initial restart service and Ryan Regan fired in a shot that redirected off a defender and landed at Koren's feet.

That goal gave Bridgewater-Raritan a string of momentum that carried over into the second half before Dominique's second goal swung it back toward Hillsborough.

"I feel like you can just see it in the game," Dominique said. "Our last game against Watchung Hills, we weren't able to close it out in the last few minutes. In this game, with the same score, we were able to close it out. It just shows our effort from game to game."

Burd finished with five saves for Hillsborough and both Bridgewater-Raritan keepers, Steve Valastequi and Harry Yessman, made five saves for Bridgewater-Raritan.

Will Tuesday's win be a sign of more things to come from Hillsborough? Even the Raiders aren't ready to jump to any conclusions yet.

"We're definitely very excited, but we haven't done anything yet," Dominque said. "All I can say is just keep watching us."

Brian Deakyne may be reached at bdeakyne@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianDeakyne. Like NJ.com High School Sports on Facebook.