On Friday night, the Bears met rival Portledge under the lights for a key league match-up on Fitch Field between the last two undefeated teams in the PSAA. The Brook took a big step toward their fifth straight regular season league title in a 5-2 victory that exhilarated a large crowd.

On a crisp Friday the 13th, Aiden Ruiz was the scariest thing on the field, terrorizing the Panther defense with his speed, creativity, and tenacity. Less than four minutes in, the sophomore tested the Portledge netminder, who came up with a great save, but Ruiz didn’t have to wait long for another chance. At the 35:19 mark, he received a pass from John Fay and put a low shot off the right post and in for a 1-0 lead. Nine minutes later, he doubled the lead when he put home his own rebound on a shot that glanced off the outstretched fingers of the keeper. The Bears dominated possession for large swaths of the first half with precision passing and off-ball movement but couldn’t punch in a third score to break Portledge’s back. That is, until 3.7 seconds remained in the period.

Portledge had possession and was pressing forward, hoping to halve their deficit at the half, but the Bear defense remained stout and gained back control of the ball with 10 seconds remaining. John Fay struck a ball from the middle of the backfield up to the speedy Ruiz, who ran onto the ball, surged past his defender, and tucked away a huge score that brought a roar from the Blue Fan Group.

The score was key as the Panthers came out for the second 40 with renewed energy, scoring a goal at 32:22. Two minutes later, Portledge was awarded a penalty kick on a questionable call and converted to pull within a goal just 10 minutes into the half. Several tense minutes followed, but Ruiz again came up big when he hammered home his own rebound at the 24:26 mark for his fourth score of the game. The Bears’ defense, anchored by Erick Beausoleil, held the Panthers at bay from there, and Jayson Amin punched home a goal with 5:51 remaining to make it a memorable Senior Night for our two captains who have been so vital to the Bears’ success.

The Brothers Fay spurred the offense all night and assisted on four of the five goals, with John registering a trio of helpers and James adding one. Sean Kong was strong between the posts with 3 saves.

The Bears are back in action this week in a match-up with Knox before a key showdown at Portledge on Thursday.

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