SB Soccer Win Home Invitational

 

 

This was a really fun game to play to begin the tournament. CDL #2 played a very technical game as they played out of the defense through midfield and into their forwards whenever they are in possession of the ball. They are a very well coached team and their players were fun to watch. Stanstead opened the scoring in minute 16 when Ryder Busto found fellow midfielder Gabriel De Santis who calmly found the back of the net. Two more goals came late in the second half, the first was a tremendous finish from Henry Riddell (minute 38) after a long defense splitting pass and then Jeremiah O’Regan completed the game’s scoring in the final minute following an exchange of passes between Riddell and Shun Hatano. Emanuel Ganz was sharp mentally in recording his first clean sheet of the year.

 

Spartan Starting Line-Up:

Goal: Emanuel Ganz

Defenders: Emiliano Maciel, Chaz Grenier, Liam Wallace and Beckett Kirstensen

Midfielders: Jordan Ilunga, Gabriel De Santis and Ryder Busto

Forwards: Frederic Vincent, Erik Fabian and Luke Delabruere

 

The Spartans rode their wave of momentum from game 1 into this matchup of ETIAC rivals. Galt play a high-pressure style of defense, like that of MVR, and forced us to think and make quicker decisions in and out of ball possession. To the boys’ credit, we continued to play the ball on the ground and created a number of good scoring chances. Patience was the key in this match because it took until the 37^th minute before we scored the opening goal. Once again, midfielder Gabriel De Santis was the man of the moment when he danced around two Galt defenders before firing a hard shot into the far left-hand corner for the lead. Not content with that, Stanstead scored again in the final minute when midfielder Josh Lippmann ran into space between the two opposing centre backs and slotted a firm shot into the bottom right-hand corner. Goalkeeper Emanuel Ganz faced 4 shots but handled them comfortably in earning his second clean sheet.

 

Spartan Starting Line-Up:

Goal: Ganz

Defenders: Mason Beasse, Chaz Grenier, Mauricio Lopez and Will Towner

Midfielders: Ilunga, DeLaBruere and Matteo Paradis

Forwards: Riddell, Robillard and O’Regan

 

In tournament play, there is usually one game where the team drops its performance. Whether it’s fatigue, over confidence, motivation, the reasons can be many. This game was our banana skin game as we slipped in terms of our performance. A sure tell-tale sign of being mentally ready to play or not is the type of start to a game the team displays. Our boys were not at all sharp as we conceded in the first minute of play. To our credit, we did respond, in similar fashion to that against MVR, when Josh Lippmann scored to tie the game with 4 minutes remaining after some great combination play with Jordan Ilunga and Luke DeLabruere. With the tie, Stanstead earned a placement in the championship game against Galt, who beat both CDL teams.

 

Spartan Starting Line-Up:

Goal: Ganz

Defenders: Maciel, Grenier, Lopez, Kristensen

Midfielders: Lippmann, De Santis, Busto

Forwards: Ridell, Prieto, Hatano

 

The Spartans shook off their game 3 banana skin performance and recaptured the form of the first two games. Good ball movement, solid team shape, consistent communication and a willingness to be the hardest working team on the field resulted in their deserved 1-0 victory. Our goal, scored by Luke DeLabruere after an exchange of passes between midfielders Ilunga and Lippmann, was not only a great goal to watch fly into the far left-hand side of the net, but it was a result of excellent team play. The goal exemplified our intentional passing style of play and broke the opposition back line; the type of goal we constantly emphasize in producing in our training sessions. Solid team defense and a strong Ganz in goal limited Galt to two long-range shots. Well done to every member of the team for a well-deserved tournament championship!

 

Spartan Starting Line-Up:

Goal: Ganz

Defenders: Beasse, Grenier, Lopez and Towner

Midfielders: Ilunga, DeLaBruere and DeLaBruere

Forwards: Riddell, Fabian and O’Regan