The 2025 campaign of the West Milford High boys soccer team will be one long remembered.
The Highlanders forged a 17-4-2 record - its second straight with a program best 17 wins - and earned the first NJSIAA sectional championship in program history last month.
Its season ended with a hard-fought 2-1 loss to eventual Group 2 champion, Madison, in a group semifinal on Nov. 18.
“This season was a lot of fun,” West Milford coach Ray Ferriola coach. “This team worked very hard and came up big in the big spots.”
West Milford made its first-ever appearance in the sectional final on Nov. 14 and edged Ramsey, 1-0, in the North Jersey, Section 1, Group 2 final on a goal by Noah Christian.
A year ago, West Milford went 17-3-3 but was ousted from the state tournament by Ramsey, 4-0, in the sectional semifinal round.
“It was important to the boys having lost to them last year,” began Ferriola. “This year we were ready.”
The Highlanders, which went 9-0-1 in winning the Independence Division of the Big North Conference, were led offensively by Will Dent (23 goals, three assists), Danny Bauer (eight goals, 10 assists), Christian (five goals, eight assists), Nick Bognar (one goal, 13 assists), Jaxon Neubig (four goals, four assists), Andy Sanchez (three goals, one assist), Julian Pierre (two goals, two assists), Dan Golas (two goals), AJ Lockwood (one goal, one assist), Logan Amundson (one goal), Jaco Freire (one goal), Iron Pinedo (two assists), Diego Sanchez (one goal), Ethan Amundson (one assist), Kevin Docwra (one assist), Aramis Nieshalla (one assist) and Chris Orsino (one assist).
Senior goalies Donovan Ford (160 saves, six shutouts) and Dominic Lenoir (27 saves, two shutouts) anchored the defense.
Against Madison in the Group 2 semifinals, West Milford held a 1-0 halftime lead on a goal by Bauer before Madison answered with two goals after the break. Ford finished with 12 saves.
“Last year, we won 17 games and duplicated that this season,” Ferriola said. “And we did it with a harder schedule against teams like Passaic Tech and Harrison that was built to get to the postseason.
“Our seniors were very happy with the sectional win and we gave Madison a good game. We really had a chance against a team that finished No. 7 in the state. We finished fourth in North Jersey and that was a testament to this team’s effort and determination.”
The Highlanders will lose a lot of players to graduation but Ferriola likes the way the future stacks up.
“We lose 17 seniors and have just two starters coming back along with three bench players,” said Ferriola, who just completed his 12th season at the helm. “But our JV team under coach Roberto Zuban went undefeated this year and our freshman team led by coach Carola Vizcarra were very competitive.
“They are sending the program in the right direction and I’m confident about the future.”