This evening, in front of a spirited, bundled-up crowd at Buyer’s Park, the boys’ soccer team topped the Knox School, 2-1, on a chilly Senior Night. The win not only avenged a frustrating 2-2 tie from Oct. 1, but clinched the PSAA East Division Championship, the Bears’ first regular season title since 2016. Even with the Bears’ 5-4 win over Our Savior on Monday, the chance of a division crown looked slim as the Pioneers still had the edge on the Brook due to the Bears’ draw with Knox. However, the Falcons helped the Bears’ cause yesterday with a stunning 4-2 win over Our Savior, setting up tonight’s opportunity to claim the title and the top seed in next week’s PSAA Tournament. The Bears did not disappoint.

Less than 10 minutes into the game, the Bears jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Stephen Cisz bombed a throw into the box where Caleb Spreckels headed it home. Almost exactly 10 minutes later, Owen Sobel doubled the lead when he savvily caught the Knox defense sleeping with a quick restart on a free kick, tucking a shot into the back right corner. Knox halved their deficit with 10:56 remaining, but the Bears carried a 2-1 edge into the half.

The Brook had a chance to add a cushion at the 36:43 mark when they were awarded a penalty kick after a foul in the box, but the Knox keeper made an impressive save to preserve the one-goal margin. The Bears continued to knock at the door as Mo Romeus and Devin Saraniero each tested the keeper, but they could not tuck away the back-breaker. Meanwhile, the Falcons’ pair of mercurial forwards continued to pressure the Stony Brook backfield, but the Blue & White line rose to every challenge. Spreckels, Jake Aretz, Brandon Gicquel, Tiger Winston, and Ryanh Kahn (4 saves) repelled numerous attacks to preserve the narrow edge. The second half seemed to crawl forward, but as the final seconds mercifully bled away, the boys in blue reveled in another memorable moment under the lights and sixth regular season title in team history.

The Bears close the regular season with a 9-2-1 record, 6-1-1 in PSAA play. They host a PSAA quarterfinal match on Thursday against the winner of La Scuola d’Italia and Portledge.

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