Spartans historic season ends at Hudson

 

On Saturday afternoon the Superior Spartans traveled to #1 seeded Hudson to face the Raiders in the WIAA regional final.  It was the first game between Superior and Hudson since the 2018 season.  Superior entered the game with an 18-2-1 record and the #4 seed.  Hudson was 16-1-2 on the season and ranked as high as #2 in the state of Wisconsin.  This was going to be a tough game no matter how you play it.

Hudson came out fast and controlled the possession and the pace.  Multiple balls played into the attacking third came through to their quick forward, but senior goalie Brady Bachand played terrific and made several early saves to keep the Superior hopes alive.  Eventually the Raiders broke through down the right side but the Spartan defense kept them outside at a very bad angle.  However, the Raiders midfielder played it across the goal in what looked like a cross but ended up in the far upper corner of the goal.  Either way, it was a spectacular goal that gave Hudson a 1-0 lead at the 9:27 mark.

For the next several minutes, Superior endured the Raiders attack.  The Spartans responded well to the early deficit, but just couldn't get possession long enough to create their own attack.  The defense held strong and Bachand continued to turn away breakaway after breakaway.  Hudson earned a corner kick that was placed beautifully into the box and headed home to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead at 36:42.  Superior persevered and the score remained 2-0 at halftime.

Unfortunately, Superior could not break into the Hudson defense.  While there were moments of great play, too many mistakes against a very clinical Raiders team was the story.  Hudson scored in the 48th, 56th, and 67th minutes of the second half to easily control the final outcome, 5-0.  Bachand still played great in goal and finished with 15 saves.  Superior did end up with 5 shots on goal, including 3 from senior captain Spencer Kidd, but none got past the Hudson defense or goalie.  The Spartans season ends at 18-3-1 and the furthest we have ever advanced in the WIAA playoffs.  

What an amazing season it was.  While we are saddened that it has officially come to an end, we will continue to look back with pride and joy on what great memories we have from this team.  We thank our 9 seniors who have played their final high school game and have had such a great impact on our program.  More highlights and memories to come.  The team will be having our annual paintball party on Friday and will be gathering for a postseason banquet on Sunday, November 8th.  We will continue to post and share some post season awards and thoughts and then begin looking towards the 2027 season!

But for now - we thank our Spartan boys soccer team for one heck of a ride.  Congrats on the winningest season in school history and some awesome memories.  And thank you to all our parents/families/supporters who followed us all along the way.  Let's go Spartans! 

What a night! Home playoff win and 100+ career goals for Kidd

 

On Tuesday night, the Spartans hosted their third ever home playoff game and second in a row.  Superior finished the season 17-2-1 and earned the #4 seed in the playoffs for a matchup against the Wisconsin Rapids Red Raiders.  Earlier in the season, the Spartans defeated Rapids at a neutral site by a score of 4-1.  It was a beautiful night for playoff soccer.

The game did not start out great for Superior, as Rapids earned a corner kick in the sixth minute.  The ball deflected off a Spartan defender and Rapids knocked it in for the early 1-0 lead.  The game was back and forth but eventually sophomore forward Titus Thompson was taken down in the box and given a penalty kick.  Senior captain Spencer Kidd converted the penalty to tie the game 1-1 in the eleventh minute.  It was his 100th career goal.  More on that later...

The game continued as both teams created scoring chances, including multiple breakaways for the Red Raiders.  But each time senior goalie Brady Bachand was up to the task.  At halftime the score remained 1-1.  In the second half, it was Superior who struck first.  In the 48th minute, the Spartans earned a corner kick that was taken by senior captain Aiden Pagnucci.  The kick was deflected by the goalie off the crossbar.  Thompson beat the defense to the ball and headed it home for the 2-1 lead.  With the lead and the momentum, Superior began to dominate the pace of play.  In the 65th minute, sophomore Demion Campbell won the ball in the box and cleared to open space before sending a cross right through the front of the goal.  Kidd was waiting on the back side to deflect the ball into the net for his second goal of the night and 101st of his career.

Superior held off the Red Raiders the rest of the way to earn a 3-1 victory and advance to the second round of the playoffs with a record of 18-2-1.  Bachand finished with 11 saves.  The Spartans will next travel to Hudson to face the #1 seeded Raiders on Saturday, October 24.

As mentioned, with his two goals on the night, Spencer Kidd has moved past 100 goals for his career.  The game ball was given to Kidd and his family and the boys took a moment to honor the accomplishment as a team after the game.  Kidd finished the 2023 season with 16 goals, 2024 with 25 goals, 2025 with 29 goals, and sits at 31 goals this season!  Well done young man!

It was a wonderful night for Superior Spartan Boys Soccer.  This team continues to break records and make history.  18 wins adds to their record of most in school history.  And now that is the third ever WIAA playoff victory for the Spartans.  Congratulations to the boys and good luck in the next round.  Let's go Spartans!

Home playoff game tonight!

 

Spartans tame Tigers to finish 17-2-1

 

Under the Friday night lights, the Spartans boys soccer team hosted the New Richmond Tigers for the 2026 regular season finale.  Historically this has been a close match up between these competitive programs, and this year was no different.  Superior was hoping to come out strong as they prepare for the coming playoffs next Tuesday.  In the opening moments, a corner kick was earned for the Spartans.  Senior captain Chase Danielson took the corner kick that went long to junior Mannix James, who shot back to the previous side.  That's where Danielson beat a defender and coolly deposited the ball back into the far corner of the goal.  It was the fastest goal of the season for Superior, just 51 seconds in and it was 1-0.  

New Richmond calmed down, but Superior dominated play.  Eventually the Tigers broke through the Spartan defense, and slipped the ball past senior goalie Brady Bachand to tie the game at the 11 minute mark.  The rest of the half was controlled by the Spartans, taking a 7-3 advantage of shots on goal.  The second half started just as hot for Superior.  Less than 2 minutes in it was a breakaway for sophomore Titus Thompson who was taken out by the goalie, no foul was called.  The defense played the ball out to senior Jem Pontillas, who rocketed a shot off the crossbar and in.  But a Tiger defender was blocking the referees view and no goal was called.   About 10 minutes later, junior Henry Haugen took possession in the middle of the field and played a perfect ball through the middle towards Thompson, who beat the defense to the ball and shot past the goalie before he could get there.  It was a clean finish to give a 2-1 lead and all the momentum to Superior.

The Spartans had plenty of other chances but could not put another goal in.  The Tigers only had one true chance in the last few minutes of the second half, and Bachand took care of business with his fourth and final save of the night.  Superior finished strong to win 2-1.  It was their 7th consecutive victory and puts the Spartans final regular season record at 17-2-1.  The 17 wins are the most ever in a single season for the Spartan boys soccer team.  Next up are the WIAA playoffs where Superior is the #4 seed in Division 1 - Section 1 and will host the #5 Wisconsin Rapids Red Raiders on Tuesday, October 20th at 6pm at NBC Spartans Sports Complex.  Come out and support the Spartans as they continue on in this historic season.

The JV team was also in action for the final time this season.  While the game started close, and the JV Spartans played well at times, it was all Tigers.  The game was scoreless until New Richmond notched two goals in the last ten minutes of the first half.  They added three more in the second half, including an own goal to win the game by a final score of 5-0.  Freshman Liam Perrault had 14 saves in net for Superior.  JV captain Everett Kliegle had two shots on goal to lead the Spartans who were outshot 18-5.  Superior JV ends the season with a record of 8-13-1.  There was lots of growth and improvement over the season, and many lessons learned for the junior varsity.  Congrats on a great season boys! 

JV drops final road game of the season

 

On Tuesday night, the JV team traveled over the bridge for a match with the Duluth East "B" team.  Earlier in the season, our JV defeated the East "C" team by a score of 4-2 at "The Swamp."  This game would have a different result.

The Greyhounds got on the board first, scoring with 17 minutes left in the first half on a penalty kick that was their first shot on goal.  Prior to that, the Spartans dominated possession and chances.  Superior kept their heads and battled on.  Unfortunately, East snuck another goal in right before halftime to lead 2-0.  After gathering for a break, the Spartans came back out with intensity in the second half.  Superior was able to earn several corner kicks and shots inside the goal area, but just could not get anything past the East goalie.  With 13 minutes left in the game, the Greyhounds struck again to tighten their grip on the lead 3-0.  Superior never gave up, but did allow another goal with 4 minutes left.  Battling to the end, the final score was 4-0.

Freshman goalie Liam Perrault finished with 4 saves on the night.  Freshman Henry Farell had two shots on goal, while sophomores Everett Kliegle and Demion Campbell also produced a shot on goal.  There were plenty of opportunities, and even a couple missed shots on open nets.  While it was a frustrating game in that regard, Superior had a positive attitude and look forward to finishing the season on a high note at home this Friday night in the season finale against New Richmond.  JV will be at 5pm and varsity will kick off at 7pm.

Go Spartans!

LSC All-Conference Honors - *EDITED*

 

Congratulations to our Spartans who were honored with Lake Superior Conference All-Conference recognition:

Spencer Kidd - 1st Team

Marc Pagnucci - 1st Team

Aiden Pagnucci - 2nd Team

Brady Bachand - 2nd Team

Mannix James - Honorable Mention

Well done boys!  And congrats to all our Spartans who collectively work as a team to make each individual player that much better.  Let's go Spartans!

Superior defeats Hayward for school record 16th win on the season

On Tuesday afternoon the Spartans traveled to Hayward to face off against the Hurricanes.  Several players were unavailable due to injury, including junior captain Marc Pagnucci who will be out for the remainder of the season.  Unfortunately, the injury bug continued to bite Superior.  Just 12 minutes into the game, sophomore goalie Keagan Shannon took a kick to the head and went down.  He did not return to the game.  Senior Brady Bachand replaced him in net.  After settling down, the Spartans finally started getting some shots and attack on goal.  Eventually, it was senior captain Spencer Kidd scoring unassisted to give Superior the 1-0 lead.  Just before halftime, Kidd sent in a low cross to junior forward Zack Monaghan who deflected the ball into the net for a 2-0 lead.  

In the second half, the Spartans were quicker to get on the board.  This time it was senior captain Aiden Pagnucci scoring from long range on an assist from Monaghan to give Superior a comfortable 3-0 lead.  In the 58th minute, sophomore forward Titus Thompson won a ball and sent a nice cross into the goal area where Kidd headed it home for his second goal of the night and a 4-0 lead.  There were multiple other chances but none were able to find the back of the net.  Bachand finished with 4 saves on the night.  The Spartans won the game 4-0 and improve to 16-2-1 on the season.  This breaks the single season record for wins in the history of boys soccer at Superior.  Congrats on a great accomplishment boys!

The JV team played a shortened game due to darkness.  Hayward prevailed by a score of 3-1.  Sophomore captain Everett Kliegle had the lone Superior goal on a penalty kick.  Freshman Liam Perrault had 8 saves in net.  The JV team drops to 8-11-1 on the season.  JV plays on Tuesday at 4:30pm at Ordean Middle School against the Duluth East "B" team.

Both Varsity and JV will be playing the final game of the regular season on Friday, October 16th against New Richmond.  JV at 5pm and varsity at 7pm.

Spartans kick out cancer and win over Duluth Denfeld

 

On Tuesday night Superior hosted the Duluth Denfeld Hunters for senior project night.  5 of our seniors were involved in putting together a "Kick Out Cancer" event.  There was a 50/50 raffle, t-shirts, and a silent auction.  Over $3,000 was raised for The American Cancer Society Hope Lodge in Minneapolis, MN.  One of our player's parents recently went through cancer treatments and was able to stay at the Hope Lodge at no cost while receiving care.  That experience showed our team and soccer community how much a safe place to stay can mean to a family when facing cancer.  Thank you to everyone who participated and contributed to this cause.  The fight against cancer continues on...

It was a beautiful night for soccer and the positive atmosphere was felt as the Spartans and Hunters were to face off in their friendly rivalry.  However, just 45 seconds into the game everything changed.  Junior captain Marc Pagnucci was battling for a ball and fell back on his left ankle.  The game was stopped and the trainers and coaching staff worked to help Marc off the field.  He would remain out of the game and it looked like his season would be over.  You could say that the air got let out of the building.  Both teams were affected by the thought of such a terrible injury to one of their teammates and opponents.  The sportsmanship was appreciated as the Spartans, Hunters, players, coaches, and even the referees were helping to console one another in the moment.  And of course, eventually the game goes on...but the Spartans would have to work through the shock of losing one of their best players and the potential future effect of this season in the back of their minds.

In the next twenty minutes, Denfeld battled hard and took the momentum at hand.  The Hunters scored goals in the 10th and 21st minutes to open up a 2-0 lead.  The Superior coaching staff was split between caring for Pagnucci and addressing the game issues.  In a moment of unity, the players on the field were brought together to reset and refocus the game at hand.  The question now was, how would Superior handle the adversity of the moment?  ...The Spartans answered resoundly!

Just eight minutes later, senior captain Chase Danielson sent a through ball up the middle to senior captain Spencer Kidd.  And he did what he does best.  Beat the defense to the ball and nudged it past the approaching goalie before a collision.  The ball easily bounced its way into the goal and the score was now 2-1.  New life was brought to the Spartan side.  And eight minutes after that, it was Danielson once again setting up the tying goal.  This time on a corner kick to sophomore Keagan Shannon who deflected it neatly off the head into the back of the net.  The score was 2-2 and the momentum had swung to the Superior side!  At halftime, both teams took the needed rest and moment to collect themselves and get focused for what would be a battle for the winning goal.

In the second half, Superior made it clear they came to win.  Just seven minutes into the half, it was what we have seen so many times over the last four years.  Spencer Kidd pressured the defense to force a bad pass, stole the ball and kept the last defender at bay, then neatly chipped the goalie into the upper corner of the net.  One individual effort on a night full of every team member stepping up in different ways.  Kidd's second goal of the night gave Superior a 3-2 lead.  The battle continued on, with Superior mostly holding the edge in possession and chances.  However, in the 65th minute Denfeld brought pressure into the penalty area and after a failed attempt to clear the ball away Denfeld had a point blank shot to the goal.  This time it was senior Brady Bachand making the save to secure the lead.  Bachand was credited with seven saves on the night.  The Spartans finished strong and held to the very last whistle for a 3-2 win.  Superior improves their record on the season to 15-2-1.  That is tied for the most wins in a single season in the history of Spartans soccer.  The Spartans finished 5-1-1 in the LSC Conference and secured second place.

The JV game was not as eventful, but still a good game from both sides.  Denfeld scored two second half goals to win the game 2-0.  Freshmen Liam Perrault and Nathan Madsen both saw action in goal.  Perrault made 6 saves and Madsen made 5 saves.  The JV drops to 8-10-1 on the season.  Both Spartan squads head to Hayward on Thursday afternoon to finish out a stretch of 7 games in 10 days.

What a night!  While there were many emotions stretching from both sides of the field, it was a wonderful night for the soccer community in the Twin Ports.  A special thank you to Coach Scott Anderson and the Denfeld Hunters coaching staff and players for a great game, good sportsmanship, and even for their participation and support of our "Kick Out Cancer" night.  Thanks to all who attended and contributed.  Let's go Spartans!

Spartans dominate Proctor Rails on Monday

 

On Monday night Superior crossed the bridge to battle with the Proctor Rails in rainy conditions.  Within ten minutes, the Spartans struck first with a goal from sophomore Titus Thompson assisted by senior captain Spencer Kidd.  Just a few minutes later, it was Kidd who put away a beautiful shot assisted by senior captain Chase Danielson.  Superior led 2-0, but the wet, slick, fast conditions led to a defensive mistake that Proctor took advantage of to cut the lead in half.  Moments later, lightning struck and the referees paused the game for a 30-minute delay.  

After the delay, the combination of Danielson to Kidd struck again to give Superior a 3-1 lead at halftime.  In the second half, Thompson tallied his second goal 15 minutes in.  This time assisted by junior defenseman Mannix James.  The Spartans led 4-1 and were in full control.  With about 10 minutes left in the game, senior goalie Brady Bachand sent a long punt that cleared the defense and it was Kidd who caught up to it and finished clean to give Superior a 5-1 lead.  That's the way it would end as the Spartans improved to 14-2-1 overall and 4-1-1 in the Lake Superior Conference.

Unfortunately, the JV team fell at Proctor 3-2.  Freshman Liam Perrault made 11 saves in goal.  Proctor scored first, but the Spartans took control with goals from senior Griffin Dallum and sophomore Demion Campbell.  Assists were awarded to senior Jayson Hutchins and freshman Henry Farell.  Superior led 2-1 at halftime.  But the momentum turned when Proctor received two penalty kicks in a three minute period.  The Rails converted both times to take a 3-2 lead that held to the final whistle.  The Spartans JV team falls to 8-9-1 on the season.

Both teams are back in action on Tuesday night at home against Duluth Denfeld.  JV will play at 5pm while varsity kickoff is at 7pm.  It is also senior project night as several of our Spartans are hosting a "Kick Out Cancer" event that will include t-shirts, a silent auction, and special uniforms for our varsity squad.  Join us in supporting this special event.  Go Spartans!

Spartans come home with 2 wins from Eau Claire triangular

 

On Saturday the Superior Spartans Boys Soccer team traveled to Eau Claire North for matches against Wisconsin Rapids and the host Huskies.  In the first match, it was Superior against Wisconsin Rapids.  Side note, the last time these teams played was a 1-0 loss for the Spartans at Rapids in the 2024 WIAA playoffs.  Last year we traveled down to Rapids but were unable to play due to inclement weather.  This day was much different.  Superior got on the board in the 4th minute with a goal from senior captain Aiden Pagnucci.  Senior captain Spencer Kidd added a goal in the 38th minute to give Superior a 2-0 halftime lead.

In the second half, it was continued dominance for the Spartans.  Senior captain Marc Pagnucci added a goal in the 48th minute and Kidd scored his second of the game in the 71st minute.  It wasn't until the final ten seconds when Rapids broke through the Spartan defense to get a late goal but the final was a comfortable 4-1 win.  Kidd tallied 2 goals and one assist.  Marc Pagnucci added an assist to his one goal and junior Zack Monaghan added an assist as well.  Senior Brady Bachand tended the net for Superior.  This was an important win for our playoff seeding as Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln is in our playoff group bracket.

After a break, a short rest, and a quick snack - the Spartans faced off with Eau Claire North.  The game was well controlled by Superior, but the scoring took a little longer to get going.  Spencer Kidd got the Spartans on the board early in the first half and that 1-0 lead held until halftime.  But in the second half, Superior broke the game open with 4 more goals.  Kidd finished with a hat trick as well as one assist.  Sophomore Titus Thompson added a goal and an assist.  Junior Henry Haugen also scored a goal, Aiden Pagnucci added two assists, and senior captain Chase Danielson had one assist.  Bachand earned the shutout in goal with seven saves.  The Spartans improved their overall record to 13-2-1 and 4-1 in games played within our playoff group.  This will be vital for the seeding meeting next Wednesday night.  

The JV team was also in action against the same teams at the same time.  In the first matchup the JV Spartans struck first with a goal in the 10th minute from sophomore Demion Campbell assisted by freshman Henry Farell.  Wisconsin Rapids tied the game about 15 minutes later, but Superior took the lead back with three minutes remaining in the half.  Senior Mason Specht scored a goal assisted by sophomore Aeron Weber.  The Spartans were up 2-1 at the half.  But Rapids evened the game about halfway through the second half.  Superior took the lead back with about ten minutes remaining when Farell beautifully chipped the goalie on the assist from freshman Sawyer Plafcan.  Unfortunately, the Red Raiders quickly replied to tie the game 3-3 just two minutes later.  The game ended in a 3-3 tie.  Freshman Liam Perrault finished with 13 saves.

In the second game the JV Spartans faced the Eau Claire North Huskies in a classic back and forth battle.  While North had more shots on goal in the first half, it was Superior who scored the lone first half goal.  Freshman Jiri Saari blasted home a terrific cross from Demion Campbell to give Superior a 1-0 halftime lead.  The battle was just beginning.  Just four minutes into the second half, Campbell threw in a long ball to Mason Specht who beat the defense to the ball and struck past the goalie for a 2-0 lead.  That goal must have woke up the Huskies because less than 30 seconds later they broke through for a goal to cut the deficit to 2-1.  After some back and forth action, Eau Claire tied the game about halfway through the second half.  Thankfully, it was Campbell and Farell to the rescue again.  Farell made a long run down the sideline and crossed in low and neat to Campbell who finished home to give Superior a 3-2 lead.  The last minutes were a struggle with both teams giving everything they had.  This is when things got interesting.  As the clock ran out, a hand ball was called on the Spartans near the box.  The referee ruled a penalty kick in favor of North and they promptly scored what they thought was the tying goal.  However, after a little encouragement from the coaching staff and players - the referees reconvened and called the play back.  They determined the hand ball happened outside the box, no goal, but North would be given a free kick.  Perrault made the save and Superior won the game 3-2 in dramatic fashion.  Perrault finished the game with 18 saves.  JV improves to 8-8-1 on the season.

With both Spartan teams taking home first place in today's triangular, they continue to build momentum in the last two weeks of the season.  Superior will travel to Proctor on Monday night and host Duluth Denfeld on Tuesday night.  Both nights are JV at 5:00pm and varsity at 7:00pm.  Keep it going Superior!

Spartans sweep Duluth Marshall

 

Thursday, October 1st was SENIOR NIGHT for the Superior Spartans as we hosted the Duluth Marshall Hilltoppers.  All nine seniors were honored and featured at halftime with their parents.  The JV team also recognized the three JV seniors.  It was a special and memorable night, and a beautiful one for soccer.

Pictured above was our starting 11, including all 9 seniors!  They did great to start the game and it wasn't until we subbed in our usual starters when we made our first major mistake.  A corner kick was given to Marshall, and they took advantage by scoring a goal for a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute.  It wouldn't last long.  Junior captain Marc Pagnucci got the Spartans on the board with a twisting rocket shot after an assist from freshman Christian Smith.  That tied the game at 1-1 in the 21st minute.  Just seven minutes later, it was Pagnucci sending a ball over the top of the defense to senior captain Spencer Kidd - who neatly headed the ball over the Marshall goalie to give Superior a 2-1 lead.  How many times have we seen that connection?  The lead held for the rest of the half, and we enjoyed honoring our seniors and their families at halftime.

The second half continued with the same dominance.  In the 54th minute, Pagnucci struck again with a freekick laser that went into the lower left corner of the goal.  The defense opted not to use a "wall" on the play, and Pagnucci made them pay.  In the 77th minute, Pagnucci had another free kick.  This time sending in a beautiful ball into the goal area that was headed along by junior Henry Haugen to give us the final score of 4-1 Spartans.  It was a nice conference win to improve the Spartans record to 11-2-1 on the season and 3-1-1 in the conference.

The JV team also picked up a win against Marshall.  The game started slow but eventually the Spartans broke through with a cross into the goal area coming from freshman Rylan Sumption, that ball was headed over by senior Griffin Dallum, it came right to sophomore Demion Campbell who shot past the goalie for a 1-0 lead.  Unfortunately, Superior was facing several injuries.  Two of our regular starters were out, and two more starters were lost during the game.  That included starting goalie, freshman Liam Perrault.  He made two saves but was taken out of the game in the middle of the first half.  Freshman Nathan Madsen was brought in for his first action in goal all season.  He just recently returned from a finger injury!  Just before halftime, the Hilltoppers were able to score on a high looping corner kick to tie the game 1-1 at half.  But in the second half, Superior struck back on a corner kick as well.  This time it was Rylan Sumption's corner directly to freshman Henry Farell, who finished clean for the winning goal.  Madsen made some spectacular saves and along with the defense held on for the victory!  JV improves to 7-8 on the season.

Both teams head to Eau Claire North on Saturday for a triangular matchup.  Varsity and JV will play Wisconsin Rapids at 11:30am.  After a short break, both teams will then face Eau Claire North at 3:00pm.  Let's go Spartans!