Bernards Boys Soccer team is off to a hot start before County and State tournaments. They’ve started off 13-1 and NJ.com ranks the team 5th in the New Jersey Group 2 rankings.

Their only loss was a 1-0 game to Voorhees when the teams clashed for the first time this season. The second time these teams met, however, the Mountaineers got their revenge in a dominant 6-0 victory over Voorhees. Six different players scored for Bernards and Elliot Dietrich made 9 saves in the shutout. Gilberto Ferreira and Will Luik both had a goal and an assist in the win. Duncan Burke, Herman Goodoy-Vera, Nico Botti and Alejandro Woelper all added a goal.

In the Skyland Conference Finals, Bernards put up a dominant 1-0 victory, with the lone goal coming from a Will Luik bicycle kick, assisted by Alejo Woelper. Elliot Dietrich made 15 saves in the shutout. He now has three consecutive clean sheets and nine clean sheets on the year. After this game, Elliot passed the 100 saves mark on the season. In the last five games vs Del Val, they have been shutout each time. Bernards extended their winning streak to eight games and, in that stretch, they have outscored teams 28-2.

In a rivalry game vs Ridge, Bernards took a close 1-0 victory. The competitive game saw Gilberto Ferreira score with six minutes left in the second half. The game got a bit heated and saw a Ridge defensemen receive a yellow card. Bernard extended their winning streak to nine games and now has a record of 13-1.

Bernards has its first County game in the quarterfinals against Bridgewater-Raritan. After a rocky start, Bridgewater-Raritan has turned it around with wins over Hunterdon Central and North Hunterdon. Bernards is on a nine-game win streak and the wins over Del Val and Ridge. Bernards won 4-0 in a key game to advance to the Semi-Finals of the County Tournament. Gilberto Ferreira, Alejandro Woelper, Nico Botti, and JJ Zaun all contributed a goal in the victory. Duncan Burke, Gilberto Ferreira, and Miguel Ortiz all had one assist each. Bernards will now play Gill St. Bernards to determine who goes to the County Finals.

Bernards suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 loss in the County Semi-Finals against Gill St. Bernards. J.J. Zaun scored the lone goal off a penalty to give Bernards some life in the final minutes of the game, but couldn’t complete the comeback. The loss is Bernards second of the year and now stand at 14-2.

With the team ranked 5th in the Group 2 rankings, Bernards is seeded as the number 2 seed in the North 2 Group 2 state tournament. Bernards now plays number 15 seed North Star Academy.