Some traditions are temporary.
Established as a varsity sport at Bridgewater in 1980, so far, the Bridgewater-Raritan High School boys’ lacrosse team has produced seven Somerset County tournament crowns, seven state championships, and three more trophies from the NJSIAA’s Tournament of Champions.
The tradition of the Tournament of Chsmpions New Jersey’s premier play-down-to-one single elimination event amongst the Garden State’s six state champions (Public Group 1, Public Group 2, Public Group 3, Public Group 4, Non-Public A, and Non-Public B), unfortunately, was discontinued after the Panthers won their most recent Group 4 state championship in 2022.
However, one famous tradition is forever at Bridgewater-Raritan, which launched its road to both the county and state titles No. 8 at Holmdel High School on Wednesday evening.
That particular number has driven the Panthers’ for nearly four decades and counting, but not because of their overstuffed trophy case or a particular milestone they are trying to achieve.
No. 8 was the jersey number worn by the late Michael Bruce, who was slated to be one of New Jersey’s best players out of Bridgewater-Raritan High School East as a senior in 1988.
That fall, an unthinkable tragedy rocked the community.
When Bruce was on his way to take the SAT exam, he became fully paralyzed after getting into a terrible car accident after his car skidded on wet leaves. Every year to this day since 1990, Bruce’s No. 8 jersey has been awarded to an outstanding Bridgewater-Raritan senior boys’ lacrosse player who best represents Bruce’s passion for life, love of lacrosse, and exceptional qualities shown on and off the field.
Sadly, Bruce passed away in 2000, but his legacy, memory, and spirit continues to live on forever inside and outside of the walls of Bridgewater-Raritan.
This could not have been truer in the Panthers’ 2026 season opener, when senior goalie Reid Feinstein became the 37th annual recipient of Michael Bruce’s No. 8 jersey: an honor arguably bigger at Bridgewater-Raritan than any trophy, statistic, All-State nod, or even being set to play lacrosse beyond high school.
Bound for NCAA Division I Iona University men’s lacrosse next year, Feinstein showed why on Wednesday evening, but he did so while being the latest Panthers boys’ lacrosse star to have the great privilege of paying tribute to Michael Bruce by wearing his sacred number.
A tribute that also extended to Holmdel’s sideline.
Fittingly, Feinstein (10 saves) shined in his debut as No. 8 for Bridgewater-Raritan (1-0), which launched the season ranked No. 10 in all of New Jersey. Despite graduating 19 seniors from a team that reached the state sectional finals one year ago, the Panthers picked up right where they left off by rolling to an 11-4 victory at Holmdel (0-1) courtesy of seven different goal scorers Wednesday, March 25, at Bob Roggy Memorial Field in Holmdel.
“It’s really an honor to represent this jersey, town, school, and my team,” said after the game about being awarded No. 8 by Feinstein, who ended the evening on the doorstep of career save No. 200 heading into the Panthers’ home opener against arch-rival Pingry School at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 28, at Turf 2 in Bridgewater.
“I cannot be more grateful.”
On top of this, Wednesday evening’s game was a symbolic tribute to the everlasting impact of Michael Bruce’s legacy upon a deeper glance of the game’s box score.
Feinstein became the first Bridgewater-Raritan goalie to be awarded Michael Bruce’s No. 8 jersey since 2021 graduate and All-American A.J. Apel, who is part of a family that has been synonymous with Bridgewater-Raritan boys’ lacrosse since its debut nearly half a century ago.
Panthers head coach Matt Apel wore No. 8 as a senior in 2000 at Bridgewater-Raritan High School. His dad and fellow head coach, Hall of Famer Chuck Apel, spearheaded this annual tradition in 1990 and is now in his 47th season on the sidelines in Bridgewater.
“The tradition of Mike’s memory is what we think makes our program what it is,” said Matt Apel, who was a four-year letterwinner at Rutgers University (2001-04), along with his dad (1974-77). “No. 8 does not go to our best player, but our best leader, and people that represent the thankfulness and excitement of life, working hard, getting after it, and competing. We try to make our kids aware of how lucky everybody is to just be able to walk, breathe on their own, and to do all of the things Mike couldn’t do after his accident.”
“I was six when it happened, but I remember a lot of it.”
Sophomore Jack Winne (two goals), sophomore Will Childs (two goals, one assist), junior Shane Higgins (two goals, one assist), junior Tyler Hamby (two goals), senior Jack Cifuentes (one goal, four assists), senior Will Higgins (one goal), senior Louis Giacomazza (one goal), and senior Declan Kurdyla (three assists) rounded out a stacked group of scorers for Bridgewater-Raritan, which produced a nine-for-15 (0.60) mark at the faceoff X by junior Nick Crovelli.
Deep connections to No. 8 can be found within this group of Panthers scorers alone.
Not only was Childs’ older brother, Andrew, last season’s No. 8 jersey recipient as a senior before continuing his lacrosse career at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).
Two of Declan Kurdyla’s three older brothers, Brady and Colin, were back-to-back recipients of the No. 8 jersey for Bridgewater-Raritan as seniors in 2022 and 2023, respectively, before stepping onto the lacrosse field at Rutgers University, where they currently reside. Following the 2024 graduation of goalie Cameron Kurdyla, who now plays lacrosse at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Declan Kurdyla is now the last of an accomplished quartet of Kurdyla brothers to suit up on both the football field and lacrosse turf.
Their uncle, Panthers varsity assistant coach Allen Kurdyla, was Bridgewater-Raritan’s second recipient of Michael Bruce’s No. 8 jersey in 1991 before being a three-year letterwinner at Rutgers (1993-95). Their dad, Aaron, was also a four-year letterwinner at Rutgers (1994-97), like their high school head coaches also were, while their mom, Erin, was a softball star at Rutgers.
Simply put, lacrosse runs deep in the Kurdyla family, including on their mom’s side of it, despite her playing a different sport than lacrosse at Rutgers.
“I remember when we were in the second grade playing rec lacrosse, the story was always told to us, so it is very important to us as a senior class,” reflected of Michael Bruce’s legacy by Declan Kurdyla, who will also be heading to Rutgers University to play lacrosse after graduation from Bridgewater-Raritan High School. “Reid is very deserving of No. 8 and is the best recipient for it. He is a very good, vocal leader, works the hardest on the team, and holds everyone accountable.”
“He is one of my best friends, and I couldn’t be prouder of him.”
Erin’s brother and the Kurdyla brothers’ uncle, Kevin Buchan, was fittingly the eighth recipient of Michael Bruce’s No. 8 jersey when he played for Bridgewater-Raritan in 1997. To further add to the deep Panthers to Scarlet Knights pipeline, Buchan was also a four-year letterwinner at Rutgers (1998-2001).
Just under 30 years later at Bob Roggy Memorial Field on Wednesday evening, another Buchan found his way into the box score for Holmdel, which had three different players score on its home field in defeat.
Junior David Perrotti (one goal, one assist) and freshman Tyler Carri (one goal) were two of the Hornets’ three scorers, but Holmdel’s leading scorer completed an epic full-circle moment with ties to Bridgewater-Raritan, No. 8, and Michael Bruce.
Finn Buchan (two goals): Kevin’s son, also wears No. 8 as a senior for Holmdel, and he is currently set to continue his lacrosse career at Stevens University next year.
It was therefore only fitting that the Panthers’ schedule landed at Holmdel to launch the season, and pregame, Buchan wearing No. 8 at the center X with Bridgewater-Raritan’s No. 8 in Feinstein was as symbolic of a tribute to Michael Bruce as the lacrosse world could have asked for.
“Kevin was a great No. 8, and Finn is just like his dad,” revealed by Matt Apel, who played with Kevin Buchan in both high school and college. “Finn is a hard worker, really excited about playing, and loves getting out there and competing. He represents the No. 8 continuously in another program, but it comes through Bridgewater-Raritan. It comes through Kevin, the memory of Mike, and what it meant to Kevin. He passed that on to his son, and we have a bunch of kids who wear the No. 8 in college right now. It’s a tradition we encourage them to do, and they take ownership of it and get really excited about it. We appreciate how much it means to them, because it means a lot to us as a staff. Between me, Coach Al, and my dad, we are some of the only ones in the program right now that actually knew Mike and went through it all.”
“We’re trying to keep that tradition alive as best as we can.”
Keeping in mind that sometimes any form of the No. 8 may not be available for a player to wear on a college team’s roster (e.g. jersey retirement, number already worn by another player), from the Kurdyla family alone, Brady Kurdyla currently wears No. 8 as a senior midfielder at Rutgers University and Colin Kurdyla is No. 88 as a junior attackman for the Scarlet Knights.
Declan Kurdyla wore No. 8 as the Panthers’ starting quarterback on the football field and now wears No. 88 on the lacrosse turf.
Like his oldest brother Brady was in 2021-22, Declan Kurdyla was the Panthers’ starting quarterback on the football field to begin his senior year in 2025-26. To cap off a solid two-year stint under center, Kurdyla helped guide the Panthers to their first state sectional title in school history, which was achieved after Bridgewater-Raritan defeated Bayonne High School, 21-14, back on November 14 at John Basilone Memorial Field.
He, along with a familiar cast of some of his football teammates, will now try to repeat that feat in boys’ lacrosse this spring.
“Playing on the football field helped us all grow super tight,” said Kurdyla, who played in the fall with Winne, Higgins, Cifuentes, Crovelli, senior Mikey Bratus, junior James Locrotondo, and senior Connor O’Hare, based on the Panthers’ online opening day roster. “It’s like a brotherhood now, and we’re just bringing that brotherhood into lacrosse. Everybody who is now on the lacrosse team that played football can take all of the lessons we learned from our successful football season and bring them here.”
“Hopefully, we can have the same success.”
He will now try to help lead a boys’ lacrosse state sectional title run to close out his career at Bridgewater-Raritan, where the road to a Group 4 state championship has recently run through this program. Every year since the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, either Bridgewater-Raritan (2022) or the team that eliminated Bridgewater-Raritan from the state tournament has gone on to win the Group 4 state championship. Hunterdon Central Regional High School eliminated the Panthers in the North, Group 4 quarterfinals in 2021 before hoisting the Group 4 trophy, while Ridgewood High School, ranked No. 12 in New Jersey, upset the Panthers in the 2023 state sectional semifinals en route to its eventual state title.
Two-time reigning Group 4 state champion Westfield High School, ranked No. 11 in New Jersey, has eliminated the Panthers in one-goal games in each of the past two postseasons. The Blue Devils edged Bridgewater-Raritan in overtime, 11-10, in the 2024 state sectional semifinals before knocking off the Panthers in last year’s 2025 North, Group 4 state sectional title game, 8-7, at Gary Kehler Stadium in Westfield on their way to successfully defending their state title.
With four different multi-goal scorers in its season debut at Holmdel, including three underclassmen, Bridgewater-Raritan looks to be reloaded and on track to emerge as a favorite to finally return to the Group 4 mountaintop in 2026.
Especially with an elite defense led by Feinstein, their opponents’ last of many roadblocks towards lighting up the scoreboard.
“Goalie is tough and you’re stopping fast shots, but that’s the whole point of this position,” Feinstein previewed of his role and the Panthers’ overall roster in 2025-26. “You have to fight through adversity, find a way to push through, and we just have to trust our guys. We have a lot of young guys stepping up, and they feel the pressure too. They’re finding ways, and they figured it out today. We need to just go back to work and get ready for Saturday against Pingry.”
“It will be a good one, and we’re excited.”
Bridgewater-Raritan (1-0) and Skyland Conference Delaware Division rival Pingry School (0-0): ranked No. 7 in New Jersey, will square off at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 28, in Bridgewater in a huge early showdown, where the winner may immediately be set up with a reasonable path towards as much as a top-two seed in May’s Somerset County Tournament before Spring Break even ends. Four quarters were not enough to decide three of both teams’ last five regular-season meetings, including last season’s 7-6 double overtime victory by the Big Blue on March 29, 2025.
After winning three straight Somerset County Tournament titles from 2022-24, Pingry was defeated by a score of 10-4 against Gill St. Bernard’s School, ranked No. 9 in New Jersey, in the 2025 county finals.
“Going against a zone [at Holmdel] was nice, because on Saturday, we will play a zone in Pingry,” explained Declan Kurdyla. “Today was very good, because you could see our young guys getting better every quarter. From the first quarter to the fourth quarter, you could see how much more confident Jack Winne looked. Our chemistry has grown slowly in practice, running through the offense, seeing the skip lanes, and seeing the cut lanes.”
“Hopefully by the end of the season, it’s going to click and we’re going to look like a different team.”
Even though Feinstein may be confined to his goal creases on either side of his home field this season, most importantly, there will come numerous points where he will wear Michael Bruce’s No. 8 jersey under the Panthers’ home scoreboard: one that has memorialized Michael Bruce since it was built in 2012.
Now, Feinstein and Bridgewater-Raritan’s fellow seniors will try to close out their careers on top.
And perhaps poetically, with county/state championship banner No. 8 on the fence under their home scoreboard that bears the name of the late Michael Bruce.
“When our kids do their sprints, they have to say ‘thank you’, because we have to be thankful for the fact that we get to walk, run, and play the game in Michael Bruce’s memory,” concluded by Matt Apel, who will try to win the Panthers’ first state championship since he became co-head coach in 2023. “His tragedy has taught our kids who have gone through our program for almost the last 40 years to appreciate all of the things we can do, the reality that we need to work hard every day, and being thankful for what we have. It gives our kids a lot of character, and that’s the hope.”
“We want them to be better people – not just better players.”