During the first six games of the season, the Barnegat boys soccer team didn’t play any teams with a winning record. Once the Bengals met more-viable opponents, they discovered some chinks in their armor.

“One of the curses of a hot start is you don’t get to experience a game in which you make a bunch of mistakes that you can learn from,” said head coach Kevin Peters, whose squad interrupted a skid in which his crew lost three of four contests before knocking off nearby rival Pinelands Regional,…