The Rivalry

Yesterday the Spartans took on the Mounds Park Academy Panthers in the newest edition of this rivalry which has been one of the best and most passionate in the Tri-Metro Conference over the last few years. The Spartans were looking for revenge after having lost the conference to the Panthers only one year ago by one game, that game being a 1-0 win at Historic Lang by the Panthers. This year though would be a different story because the Panthers had graduated several star seniors from the year before. The game was at Mounds Park and going into it the Spartans were ranked 3rd in state and leading the conference, while the Panthers had been struggling and were cellar dwellers with only 2 wins. The game started off with a bang as Gabe "G-Unit" Brennaman scored the first of many around seven minutes into the game. The boys kept up the pressure and Sam "Bulldog" Forsgren added to his never ending goal tally to double the score. The SPA fan section composed by the usual die-hards went crazy and soon enough it seemed like it was a home game. The fans continued to encourage the guys until freshman senstaion Ikey "the Baby Faced Assasin" Forsgren scored his second goal in the past two games. The floodgates have now officially opened for Forsgren number three. The goal was shortly followed by senior captain Ryan "Giggles" Hobert scoring his second goal of the season on a genius header. Before the half ended, Junior Forward Lorenzo "Cappucino" Pavoloni injected his caffeine into the teams veins with two spectacular strikes that gave the Spartans a 6-0 lead. The first of these goals was a great shot with the outside of his left boot that went into the top corner of the net.

The Spartans went into the second half confident that they had this game in hand and did not let up. In the second half they put up a great effort in pressure from the front to the defense that rarely allowed their opponents into Spartan territory. The leadership of Nico "Swan" Olson Studler in the back and the safety offered by Matty "ICE" Fiedler in goal were crucial in what was an extremely entertaining second half. The Bulldog was unleashed and punished the Panthers to make the score 7-0, his 29th of the season. With less than ten minutes to go, he put in another one, his 30th of the season, he cannot be stopped. He has scored in every game and this hat trick added to many others. Substitute Nick Volpi also saw some playing time against his old school, and nearly scored on a back-heeled shot which was saved on the line by the keeper. Later however goalkeeper Ben "Beast" Braman, playing forward at the time, found himself about 35 yards out with the ball at his feet and the clock ticking, and decided to do one of the craziest things, he struck the ball with an incredible amount of power and slowly but surely it found its way into the top corner. His teammates swarmed him, overwhelmed in joy, one of the greatest goals of the season but also one of the highlights of the season in general, a goalkeeper scoring, not something you see everyday. Congratulations to the Beast. The boys ended the game with this 9-0 score and continue to have a firm hold on the conference with three games left in the season, two of them being conference affairs, both away from home.

The girls team played host to the Panthers at Historic Lang and was consistent with the result of the other game. The lady Spartans dominated the Panthers played very nice soccer. After scoring two minutes into the game, the girls hit the cruise control button and plowed through the Panthers. Up 6-0 at the half they did not let up and continued to add to the tally until they finished the game 10-0. Scorers on the day included Molly Fiedler, Jenna O'Brien, Camille, Horne, Catherine Riley and Nina Perkkio.

Congratulations on both Spartan squads for their victories. On Saturday the boys will be traveling to the southern suburbs to take on defending AA State Champions Apple Valley in what should be a thriller at 1:00 PM. Later, at 8:00 PM, the girls will be in richfield to take on Holy Angels in a section preview under the lights. Good luck to both teams. Both games should be excellent, I will be in attendance at each of them and so should you. Go Spartans!