This afternoon, on a bright, 72-degree day on Fitch Field, the boys’ soccer team dispatched Long Island Lutheran in the PSAA Semifinals, 7-0, to punch their second finals ticket in the last three seasons. The victory also helped the Bears dispel the bitter taste of last year’s home semifinal loss to Avenues.

Before taking the pitch today, the Bears last saw game action 17 days ago in an 8-0 win over the Crusaders. Weather and COVID-19 conspired against the Bears playing the last two games on their schedule, leading to the uncharacteristically lengthy layoff. But the team showed little rust as they again jumped on LuHi early en route to their fifth straight win over the Crusaders.

Less than three minutes in, Luqman Bare nearly put the Bears ahead, but a quality stop from the keeper kept the Bears at bay. Four minutes later, Bare was taken down in the box, leading to a Mo Romeus penalty kick that put the Bears up for good. Romeus followed that up with a dynamic run that resulted in a goal off the left post, courtesy of a pass from Dennis Yilmaz. Bare extended the lead to 3-0 and 4-0 with a pair of goals at the 18:17 and 9:09 marks, and the rout was on. Justine Zakayo capped the first half scoring with just 45 seconds left as the Brook carried a 5-0 lead into the break.

As the late afternoon shadows stretched across Fitch Field, the Bear attack continued. LuHi stood tall for the first 18 minutes, repelling the offensive waves, but David Zhang broke through with a score at the 22-minute mark after receiving a pass from Bare. Jayson Amin scored perhaps the goal of the day, closing the barrage with 11:30 remaining when he glanced the ball off the near-side post and past the diving keeper for a beautiful strike.

The defense recorded their third clean sheet in the last three games as Lemuel Kutame, Ryahn Kahn, and Jackson Petroske combined for the shutout in goal. Stephen Cisz and Joe Spreckels stood tall, chasing down numerous balls in the backfield.

The Bears move on to the PSAA Championship on Friday at 2:00pm at Cantiague Park vs. Staten Island Academy.

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