Last week, the boys’ soccer team traveled to Locust Valley where they battled Portledge to a 1-1 tie. Despite not coming back with the win, the Bears still clinched at least a share of their fourth straight league crown. The draw set up a potential titanic clash on Fitch Field for Wednesday afternoon for the #1 seed in next week’s PSAA Tournament, but Staten Island Academy jumbled those plans with a 1-0 victory over the Panthers on Saturday. There was still plenty for the Bears to play for on Wednesday, even after clinching the top seed and outright league title. A second straight undefeated season was on the line as well as an eight-match home winning streak in the league dating back over two years. The Bears also came into the match with a 5-0-1 all-time unbeaten record vs. Portledge (by a combined score of 20-2) and did not intend to change the script.

The early minutes of the match were fairly even with the Bears maintaining an upper hand in meaningful scoring chances. The home team broke through at the 26:04 mark when James Fay sent a lefty cross into the box to Kevin Kiprotich Kirui who cut the ball back from his defender before burying a righty skip shot past the keeper. The Panthers were able to equalize less than five minutes later when a speedy forward got free on the left wing and sent in a cross that was put home, but the Bears had one more strike in them before the half. Stephen Cisz sent a big throw into the box where Kiprotich Kirui and the Portledge keeper collided on a 50-50 ball. The ball fortuitously bounced to Lee Maeba who looped a high-arcing shot over a Portledge defender who ably tried to fill the void left by the keeper. The final 8:26 of the half ticked by uneventfully and the Brook took a 2-1 edge into the break.

Less than six minutes into the second half, the Bears built a two-goal cushion when John Fay sent a corner kick to the back post. Dennis Yilmaz volleyed the ball back to the middle where Joe Spreckels put it home for a 3-1 lead. Portledge refused to go away as they halved their deficit at the 18:42 mark with a header goal off of a throw in, but the anxious Stony Brook crowd let out a cathartic cheer with 7:00 remaining, but not before the Fay brothers tested the ligament strength in several pairs of ankles. John began by taking space on the left wing, then making a defender dance before dishing the ball to James who took a step back off the ball and baited his defender into thinking he was playing a long pass into the box. When the Panther jumped, James tucked the ball past him and crossed it to Yilmaz who buried the Bears’ fourth goal and Portledge’s hopes in the same strike.

The Bears move on to the PSAA semifinals for a fourth straight year where they will host Long Island Lutheran on Monday.

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On Wednesday afternoon, the boys’ soccer team traveled to Locust Valley and came away with a 1-1 tie to remain unbeaten in PSAA play.

James Fay put the Bears on the board with 24:13 left in the first half when Portledge failed to clear the ball and the sophomore lofted a shot over the keeper, who had come off his line. The Brook held the same margin in the second half until Portledge knotted the match on a free kick at the midway point. The two squads battled for the remainder of regulation and ten additional overtime minutes before darkness ended the match.

Despite the tie, the Bears remain the only undefeated team in the PSAA with one match to go, assuring them of at least a share of their fourth consecutive PSAA regular season title. A win over Portledge on Wednesday or a Portledge loss to Staten Island Academy would give the Brook the outright league title and the top seed in the PSAA Tournament.

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Yesterday afternoon, the boys’ soccer team braced for a taut game with their current PSAA rival, Staten Island Academy. Last Monday, the teams staged a rematch of the 2020 PSAA Championship with the Bears prevailing 3-1 in a physical game. Yesterday’s final regular season match-up was a key game that promised to impact the league standings and potential playoff seedings and the Bears expected a fight.

The first 30 minutes held true to that script as the two sides remained deadlocked in a 0-0 battle, but in the final ten minutes before the half, the lid came off the Bears’ offense as they erupted for 4 goals. The first came when Dennis Yilmaz sent a cross into the box where pressure from James Fay forced an own goal on the Tigers. Enoch Guo followed by tucking away a rebound off of a long shot from Jayson Amin. The Bears continued the onslaught when a big throw from Stephen Cisz found Joe Spreckels for a header before the Brothers Fay connected when James crossed the ball to John for the final score of the first half.

Despite a commanding 4-0 lead, the Bears continued to press the action in the second half. The scoring began when James Fay sent a high-arcing pass into the box where Amin volleyed it home. Then Ade Adedeji did the rest, scoring a hat trick over the game’s final minutes to emphatically put the contest away. For his first goal he buried Lee Maeba’s rebounded shot, for his second he raced onto a cross from Eason Pu and chipped it over the keeper, and for the crescendo he volleyed in another long throw from Cisz.

The resounding win puts the Bears in the driver’s seat for a third consecutive PSAA regular season title with two more matches to play, both against Portledge. A win in Locust Valley on Wednesday would clinch the title outright as the Panthers already have a notch in the loss column.

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