On Friday night, the boys’ soccer team put a brilliant finish on the inaugural Fall Portledge Day with a 4-1 win under the Buyers’ Park lights that moved the Bears to 4-0 in PSAA play. The victory also gave The Brook a 4-2 edge in the day’s six rivalry contests, along with wins by the girls’ cross country, tennis, and volleyball teams.

The Panthers were the aggressors in the early moments of the match, and nearly tucked away the game’s first goal just 10 minutes in when Jason Kim came off his line to make a save. Portledge would have grabbed the early momentum had Daniel Kim not been in the right place at the right time, stoning a Panther attempt on the goal line to keep the visitors off the board. Instead, it was the Bears who lit up their side of the scoreboard first when Ade Adedeji won a 50-50 aerial with the keeper that led to a James Fay goal at 26:50. The Bears maintained their margin until the five-minute mark when Portledge headed home a ricochet off the crossbar, following a great save from Kim, to march into the half knotted at 1-1.

The Bears dominated possession for the first 20 minutes of the second half, thanks to a stout back line of Stephen Cisz, Erick Beausoleil, Enoch Guo, and Daniel Kim and John Bui’s strong presence in the middle of the field. The collective wall fed a band of speedy and creative forwards that sent wave after wave of attacks at the Panthers’ defense. Finally, with 20 minutes left, the Bears broke through when Jayson Amin banged home the eventual game-winner following a scrum at the goal mouth. A key save from Kim at the 10:21 mark kept The Brook in the lead and with five minutes remaining, Beausoleil put the game away by finishing a rebound, taking the lid off of a tense Blue Fan Group that packed the stands on a chilly autumn night.

With the game all but put to bed, two more highlights remained as Kim made another brilliant stop at 4:18 before Beausoleil tucked home a second goal with just seconds remaining. As the final seconds bled away, the student section poured onto Fitch Field, flags and confetti cannons in tow, to celebrate the pair of wins clinched by the boys’ nightcap victory. Following the match, coach Tim Beirne had this to say:

I couldn’t be prouder of how our boys conducted themselves. They played with heart and courage throughout the match and their efforts were rewarded with some quality finishing.

The Bears return to the pitch on Thursday when they travel to Lawrence Woodmere for a league match-up.

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