Boys’ Soccer Wins First-Ever County Championship
Throughout its illustrious history, the boys’ soccer team was not able to claim a Somerset County Championship. The Knights have won countless conference titles to go along with sectional and even state championships as well, but always came up just a bit short when it came to the county tournament.
Finally, that all changed this fall with the Knights defeating Pingry, 4-2, on Saturday, October 26, to win its first-ever county championship.
“It is like a huge weight has been lifted off all of our shoulders,” said head coach Tony Bednarsky, who is currently in his 31st year at the helm of the program. “We were able to beat Pingry for the first time-ever earlier in the year, and it is very difficult to beat an exceptional team twice in the same season. It took a combination of good game-planning by the coaching staff, coupled with sheer determination of our players.”
Things did not get off to the best start for the Knights, however, as Pingry jumped out to an early 1-0 lead. Gill was not shaken by the early deficit and responded with three-straight goals from Jordan Canica ’21, Chris Chyzowych ’21, and Finlay Turnbull ’21 to take a 3-1 lead. Pingry would battle back and score again to make is a 3-2 game, but Micaah Garnette ’21 would connect on a goal with 11 minutes left in the game to seal the 4-2 victory for GSB. Alex Borto ’22 was once again phenomenal in goal, recording 14 saves in the win.
“What made this group special and what made them the team to finally bring the county title to Gill was their resiliency and not being in awe of the big stage,” said Bednarsky. “We faced a lot of adversity throughout the game, and we could have folded when Pingry took a quick lead or cut our lead to 3-2, but we kept our composure and scored some beautiful goals and got it done.”
Gill St. Bernard's School
Gill St. Bernard’s is a private, coeducational day school for students age three through grade 12, located in suburban New Jersey. Each of the three school divisions provides a rigorous, meaningful, and age-appropriate curriculum, and all students benefit from the environmental learning opportunities that exist on our 208-acre campus.