On this day 16 years ago, the boys’ soccer team defeated Blind Brook, 3-0, in the New York State Class D regional semifinal, to earn the first Regional Championship berth in program history.

Led by All-State forward Jay Smith, All-Conference midfielder Chris Albert, and All-Conference defender Dave Marvin, the Bears earned a winning record in a league populated by Class C schools, toughening them for battle in the Class D playoffs.

Three days later they would win the school’s first Regional Championship in a 4-1 upset victory over #1 ranked S.S. Seward. Here is the account from Newsday.

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Stony Brook is Victorious

The administrators at Stony Brook had a fire drill yesterday morning so its students could gather along the roadway and cheer the boys’ soccer team’s bus as it left for its Southeast Class D Regional semifinal game against Blind Brook (Section I) at Keio Academy in Purchase.

“The kids were lined up on the road and were yelling in unison, ‘Go Bears, Go Bears’,” Stony Brook coach David Church said. “All the players were so motivated. They were like, ‘We have to win now or we can never come back.'”

The good news for the Bears: they returned home.

Chris Albert blasted a 30-yard direct kick into the upper-right corner of the net to give Stony Brook a 1-0 lead in its 3-0 victory. The Bears will play S.S. Seward (19-0, Section IX) in the final at 2:00pm Friday in Chester.

According to Church, yesterday’s game marked the first time Stony Brook (8-7-2) has played in a postseason soccer game off Long Island. Church was happy with the support the team received from the school.

“It’s nice to know that the school supports you like that. It was very special for us all and, hopefully, we can continue on and see how far we can go.”

Stony Brook broke the game open with two second half goals. Mike Titus scored with 11 minutes left when he headed a pass from Jay Smith to give the Bears a 2-0 lead. Six minutes later, Smith assisted Jean Duell for the final tally.

“It was a good game for us to shake some of the rust off,” Church said of his team, which hadn’t played in two weeks. “I’m hopeful that we can really bear down the rest of the way now.”

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