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!