This victory, their first since 2018, came on the heels of the Spartans defeating the Richmond Regional High School Knights in the ETIAC semi-final game, 3-0. Stanstead claimed the league banner by virtue of an undefeated league season of 8 wins, 0 losses and 0 ties.

 

Jeremiah got the Spartans off to a roaring start when his timely run, in the opening two minutes, met Henry's equally judged cross into the 18-yard box. Jeremiah finished the pass with thunderous pace past an unsuspecting BCS goalkeeper. Despite continuing to apply relentless pressure in the Bears’ end, and an Jeremiah goal called back because of a handball infraction, a flurry of Spartan goal-scoring chances went wasted as they were saved, they did not hit their intended mark or they flew wide or over the goal. While this caused the Spartans a wee bit of consternation, they continued to ride their wave of momentum, and this paid off in minute 30. Jeremiah , who has been an offensive force since the CAIS tournament at St. Andrew’s College the week prior, calmy found the back of the net from another Riddell feed, with what would turn out to be the game winning goal, and a 2-0 Spartan lead.

 

Despite being outplayed, the Bears continued to run and pressure the Stanstead backline when those situations presented themselves. In the 35^th minute, BCS intercepted an errant Spartan pass and, as quick as a wink, chipped the ball over Spartan goalkeeper Gabriel’s head and into the back of the net to make the scoreline 2-1 Stanstead at halftime.

 

The Bears collected themselves at the break and came out flying for the second half. This time, it was the visitors who applied the pressure, broke the Spartans’ concentration and disrupted their passing rhythm. Much to their credit, the Spartans rode out this ten-minute surge by defending compactly and denying any quality Bears shooting chances.

 

As often happens, the tide began to shift, and the momentum turned in Stanstead’s favour. They found their earlier form and in the 60^th minute, right-winger Noah E. beat his mark, played a give-and-go with Henry and cooly found the back of the net for that decisive third goal of the game. In quick succession, the Spartans were only too eager to capitalize on the Bears’ misfortunes and slammed home two more goals to make it 5-1 and provide a comfortable four-goal cushion with less than ten minutes in the game to play.

 

Jeremiah’s hattrick goal and Eelis , who replaced Jeremiah on the left-wing, provided the emphatic insurance markers. Henry, the striker who normally is at the scoring end of passes, played the provider on this day with three high-quality assists.  

 

With the victory, Stanstead completed a streak of 10 consecutive ETIAC league and playoff wins, scoring 36 goals and conceding a stingy 5. Congratulations, Spartans!

- Coach Chandler