Disappointing Loss For Boys Soccer Team

In the third, and possibly most important meeting of the year, it was No. 4  that came away with the victory over No. 13 Canton in the Class S state tournament.

After falling to Canton last week, the Spartans redeemed themselves with a 3-0, second round victory.

In the second game of the season, Canton came to Somers and the Spartans picked up an easy 6-0 victory. On Nov. 8 however, the host Warriors (10-8) were the ones laughing with a 2-0 victory.

While no coach likes to lose, Pantuosco said it wasn’t an entirely bad loss for his team.

“We had a 10 game winning streak and we were a little too full of ourselves,” he said. “That butt kicking is hopefully going to help us win a couple more. It wasn’t that bad of a loss, it was okay.”

Pantuosco said that his team didn’t do anything differently this time, but that his team tries to force other teams to play its style.

“Sometimes when we go down to their field, it’s a very difficult field to play on and they played on senior day and they played out of their minds and gave us a butt kicking,” Somers coach John Pantuosco said.

Canton didn’t give up, and kept battling down to the last second. That wasn’t a surprise to Pantuosco.

“It was a battle and I wouldn’t expect anything else from that team, they are always battling,” he said. “They put in a solid effort, Canton did. (Canton coach) Bill Phelps and I have been battling for 10 years.”

Pantuosco said that Phelps has been coaching in Connecticut for a very long time, where Pantuosco has only been around for 10 years. He says that Phelps is somewhat of a mentor to him.

“He’s the best competitor you can ever find and after the game, it’s handshakes and ‘Good battle,’” he said. “I really enjoy playing against him. I tell my kids all the time, I’m never going to give up, and they follow along with that. And Bill Phelps is an incredible inspiration to his team and they just play as hard as they can. He’s a guy I admire.”

The Spartans will now host No. 12 Bloomfield (11-6-1) on Wednesday at 2 p.m.