PENNINGTON — Bacary Tandjigora and the Pennington School boys soccer team have come full circle. The talented senior midfielder from Dakar, Senegal has seen his role with head coach Chad Bridges’ team change over the last four years. Yet, through it all, Tandjigora has done what he could to help make the Red Hawks better. Whether that was playing defense or setting up goals more often than scoring them, Tandjigora was still a vital piece of what Pennington was looking to do. Understandably, he and senior fullback/midfielder Zach Parpel from Prague, Czech Republic were selected as captains for a Red Hawks team that was coming off winning a National Championship in 2023. An early loss to Kiski High from Pittsburgh, Pa. may have kept Pennington from repeating that tremendous feat, but Tandjigora and Co., who repeated as Mid-Atlantic Prep League champions this fall, tacked on another piece of hardware Wednesday night when it defeated second-seeded Hun, 6-1, to win the New Jersey Independent Schools Athletic Association Prep A Tournament title at Tom Liwosz Field. It was the second straight season that the Red Hawks earned the title (third overall). One noticeable difference this time around was the absence of 16-0 St. Benedict’s Prep, which is playing in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Non-Public A North Tournament. That did not deter Pennington, which finished its season, 16-1, one year after going 15-0 and winning its eighth straight Mercer County Tournament before that tournament was discontinued at the end of the 2023-24 school year. “I feel like I’ve been here for many years,” Tandjigora said. “When I first got here, I was learning to be in a new country. Every year, I played with different teammates. How far we’ve come. It’s been a really amazing journey.” Along the way, Tandjigora caught the eye of the University of Virginia soccer program, where he will spend his next four years. Before that, he spent time helping the top-seeded defending champions get past the Raiders, who were equally excited about the chance to play for a Prep A title. Pennington took control early as Division I talent Kubah “Elvis” Appiah took a long pass from his classmate Thomas Sharkey, got around charging Hun senior goalkeeper Diego Pena and tucked the game’s first goal into the net 8:26 into the contest. Nearly a minute later, Appiah passed to senior Tomas Ludvik for his team’s second score. That was a tough hole for head coach Patrick Quirk’s 13-4-2 squad, but they found a little life eight minutes after Ludvik’s goal when a handball in the box gave Hun a penalty-kick chance that Dominic Republic product Pena finished to make the score, 2-1. Despite 14 often spectacular saves by Pena, it was hard to hold down the home team, which added two more goals in the final 10:10 to take a 4-1 lead at intermission. Appiah took a pass from sophomore Matthew Addai and kicked a tremendous shot off the far post and in for the third goal, then senior Liam Baigun connected on a pass from Tandjigora to close out the half. “In the midfield, especially, they are tough because they keep moving on and off the ball,” Raiders senior back Bradford Barnes said when asked what makes the Red Hawks so difficult. “They know exactly what they want to do. They can expose little mistakes whether on offense or defense.” Pena provided the visitors with one more highlight reel moment when he stopped a penalty kick by Tandjigora 7:30 into the second half. But Bridges’ boys came back nearly two minutes later when Ghana product Addai (11 assists) led his countryman Appiah once more to complete a championship game hat trick with his 34th goal of the year. Tandjigora capped the scoring with 4:14 left when he led senior Alvaro Carnicer Cozar for his 16th goal of the season. It was all part of a simple credo which has carried Tandjigora, who led his team and the preps with 17 assists this season, through his playing days at Pennington, even with the broken finger on his right hand with which he was playing yesterday. “I love making my teammates happy,” he said. “I always tell my coaches that. I’ll do what I have to do whether it is passing, scoring or playing defense. I just want to make my teammates happy.” Capping a fine career in which the Red Hawks went 61-7-3 over his four years with their second straight state title, Tandjigora clearly has accomplished that. Hun (13-4-2)               1   0    —    1 Pennington (16-1)       4   2    —    6 Goals: Pena (H), Appiah 3, Ludvik, Baigun, Carnicer Cozar (P); Assists: Sharkey, Appiah, Addai 2, Tandjigora 2 (P). Shots: 8 (H), 20 (P); Saves: Pena 14 (H), Kelley 7 (P).