by John Osborn ·
Friday, November 28, 2025
The 2025 MIAA Division 4 State Champions pose for a photo with their coaches and ball boys. (Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz)
The Bromfield boys soccer team is once again a state champion after shutting out the No. 5 seed Rockland Bulldogs 1-0 in the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 4 final before an enthusiastic crowd of supporters Nov. 21 at Doyle Stadium in Leominster.
The championship was Bromfield’s 14th since 1979. Bromfield last won the title in 2022 when it defeated Sutton 3-0. “It’s good to be back,” head coach Alex Horne said after the game. “But there’s nothing more special than to see this group hoist the trophy to all the fans and community that came out and that supported them along the way.”
Senior Josh Pelak (#22) clears the ball from defensive territory.
Senior co-captain Conor Glew scored the winning goal toward the end of the first half of last week’s game on a perfectly executed assist from his identical twin brother, Liam. Charging downfield on a counter with Rockland’s defenders racing to get in front, Conor connected with Liam’s pass, drew Bulldog goalie Jason Hennessy out of the Rockland box, and as Hennessy dove right to block his shot, fired the ball to Hennessy’s left and into the net. The Bulldogs never recovered.
It was an ending that couldn’t have been scripted any better, a reporter remarked: Two brothers score the winning goal—and win the championship—in their final high school game. “It was unbelievable,” agreed coach Horne. But the victory was a dream come true not just for the Glews, he said, “but for all 26 members of our team and all our coaches and all our community.” And “let’s not make light” of all the back line had done, he added, allowing only six goals in 23 games. “Defense wins championships. There’s nothing else to say about it.”
Co-captain Conor Glew (#6) winds up for a kick. Glew scored the sole goal of the state championship game with an assist from his twin brother, Liam.
Bromfield’s defense has been tenacious and resolute all season, and Friday night was no exception. Senior goalie and co-captain Jacob Dangel was rarely challenged, earning one save in the first half and another in the second, while Hennessy of the Bulldogs fought off eight shots on goal before the night was over. Rockland earned five corners and 12 free kicks, some deep in Bromfield territory, but time after time, Bromfield’s defense prevented their conversion. Friday’s victory was the team’s 19th consecutive shutout this fall, a team record that includes all five games of the postseason.
Co-captain Liam Glew heads the ball.
Rockland’s offense was set back when Kaiky Araujo, the team’s top postseason scorer, injured his ankle in the second half and had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines. But the Bulldogs never stopped fighting. “In the second half, they really controlled it,” said one Bromfield defender. “They’re really good dribblers. They know what to do with the ball at their feet.” The key to Bromfield’s success, he said, was “getting balls out [of Bromfield territory], blocking and tackling, getting the ball behind their line” so they’d be under pressure “and wouldn’t have an easy game.”
The game was played on turf under the lights of Doyle with no breeze and temperatures in the mid-40s. The Bromfield section of the stands was packed. One fan was dressed as a Greek Trojan warrior; another held a sign that seemed to have anticipated the night’s key play: “Glew telepathy,” it read. The team bus was met at the Route 2 interchange and escorted back to town, as tradition prescribes, by police and fire department vehicles, their red and blue lights flashing and sirens wailing.
The team erupts with joy as the final whistle blows in Bromfield’s 1-0 defeat of Rockland for the MIAA Division 4 State Championship. From left: Co-captain Liam Glew, Thomas Sintros, Julian Holt, Ryan Cardoso (#11), co-captain Conor Glew, and co-captain and goalkeeper Jacob Dangel.
“We’ve talked about our 12th man being ‘the bench,’” said Horne. “There was certainly a 13th man tonight,” he said, pointing to the fans, parents, and students crowded around the blue-uniformed members of the team. “It was electric, and it certainly helped with what we did tonight.”