On Friday afternoon, seven of our teams trekked to Nassau County for a Portledge Day showdown with the rivals Panthers. On September 23, The Brook hosted the inaugural Portledge Day on September 23, winning the day 4-2 thanks to victories by girls’ tennis, girls’ volleyball, girls’ cross country, and boys’ soccer. The script remained unchanged for the away match-up as the Bears won 4-1-1 behind wins by boys’ and girls’ cross country, girls’ volleyball, and girls’ tennis. Girls’ soccer lost while boys’ soccer tied. The Bears finish the fall regular season match-ups 8-3-1 against their rivals.

The boys’ soccer team battled back from a 0-1 deficit to earn a 2-2 tie which clinched the outright regular season championship for the fourth year in a row and earned them the East Division #1 seed for this week’s playoff tournament. James Fay and Erick Beausoleil scored while John Fay and Stephen Cisz contributed assists.

Girls’ volleyball won their sixth straight regular season title in their previous match, but despite not needing the victory, the Bears came out hungry. A 25-22, 25-9, 25-6 sweep was fueled by 5 aces from Gillian Bernier, 11 kills from Lilly Keegan, 10 digs from Georgia Apazidis, and 2 blocks apiece from Ava McCormick and Ella Middlekauff as the Bears won their 48th league match in a row.

The girls’ tennis team clinched their fifth consecutive PSAA regular season crown and won their 27th straight league match in a 5-0 sweep. Carina Cristobal (6-0, 6-1), Sarah Arrieta (6-0, 6-0), and Alanna Wu (6-1, 6-1) were nearly perfect at singles while Isabel Guo and Ali Cristobal (6-0, 6-0) and Fiona Rivas and Julianna Arrieta (8-0) completed the sweep at doubles.

The boys’ cross country team changed the script from their one-point loss to the Panthers on the last Portledge Day with a 25-32 win. Duncan Kipkoech covered the 2.5-mile course in a winning time of 14:41. Zack Xu took third place in 15:14. Troy Meng, Roger Zhou, and William Zeron completed the scoring for the Bears.

The girls’ cross country team, which cruised to a 17-44 win vs. Portledge at home, made it difficult on themselves by missing three of their top five runners, but still came away with a 26-29 win. Evelyn Apazidis was first overall in 17:37 and Yasmin Tinaz grabbed third place in 19:35. Eowyn Jeffrey (19:49), Autumn Nichols (21:47), and Katie Racca (22:45) rounded out the Blue & White scoring.

With the regular season now in the rearview, the Bears set their sights on postseason play this week, beginning with this afternoon’s varsity and JV volleyball semifinals at home in Swanson Gymnasium.

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