In a span of two days, the boys’ soccer team experienced the full spectrum of autumnal weather. On Tuesday they played through bands of driving rain and wind gusts ushered in by the stubborn Tropical Storm Hermine. Yesterday afternoon, the Bears took the field with temperatures in the mid-80s and high humidity. While the weather has been turbulent this week, what has remained constant is the Bears’ quality of play that has allowed them to total 11 goals in their first two games. After a 5-2 win over Greenport on Tuesday, the Bears cast off years of frustration by overwhelming Southold in a cleansing 6-0 victory.

The last time the Bears topped the Settlers was on September 22, 2010 when goals by Pablo Celis and Khoren Lawson powered the Blue and White to a 2-1 win. In the next 11 games, the Bears were 0-10-1 against their league rivals including six one-goal losses. After losing to Southold twice last year by the identical score of 2-1, the Bears were hungry to write a new chapter to the story in 2016 against the three-time defending Suffolk County Champions.

In a start reminiscent of the one inflicted on the Porters two days earlier, Alvaro Martinez Torres staked the Brook to a 2-0 lead in the blink of an eye. His first goal came when Jai Narain corralled a Caleb Spreckles throw-in and placed a beautiful pass just ahead of a defender and right at the feet of the speedy Martinez Torres. The Spaniard coolly dribbled into the box and sent a lefty blast past the keeper less than six minutes into the game. 50 seconds later, Martinez Torres struck again when he pilfered a nonchalant pass between two Southold defenders and scorched a shot off of the keeper’s hand for a 2-0 lead.

The barrage continued just over a minute later when Martinez Torres returned the favor to Narain, sending a gorgeous 50-yard pass ahead to the streaking sophomore. Narain carried the ball into the box and let go of a low shot that skipped under the diving keeper and found the netting inside the far post for a stunning 3-0 lead less than eight minutes into the game. Perhaps more impressive than the scoring spurt, was the Bears’ unwavering focus and execution over the remaining 72 minutes.

Mac Bohuny closed a remarkable half of soccer when he converted a high-arcing David Choi corner kick into a beautiful header to the back right corner of the goal for a 4-0 lead with 6:35 left. The Bears absolutely dominated the opening 40 minutes. In addition to the four goals they hit two posts and had countless other scoring opportunities, keeping the Settlers constantly on their heels. On the other side of the ball, keeper David Choi was completely untested. Thanks to his defense and midfield who were seemingly first to every 50-50 ball, Choi did little more than scoop up a few harmless passes from the Southold backfield

The opening 30 minutes of the second half were more evenly played, though the Bears continued to probe the Southold defense. Then, with less than eight minutes left, the Bears put home two brilliant strikes to add a crescendo to a virtuosic performance. With 7:21 remaining, Caleb Lindo sent a perfect cross-field pass into the box where David Wadding took it off of one hop and fired it into the net for his first varsity goal. Narain followed less than three minutes later with the goal of the afternoon, when he played a ball to himself between two Southold defenders and sent a 25-yard blast into the top shelf of the net. In the closing minutes the defense held, thanks to a great stop from Choi, for our first shutout against the Settlers since a 0-0 draw on September 25, 2006.

Through two games, Martinez Torres tied for second in scoring in Suffolk County with 7 points (4 goals/ 3 assists). Narain is tied for fourth with six (3 goals/3 assists). The Bears take the field again next Wednesday in a home match with Port Jefferson at 4:30pm.

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