Spartans open season with road victory at Chippewa Falls

 

On Tuesday night the Spartans took the bus down Highway 53 to visit the Cardinals of Chippewa Falls in their season opener.  It was a beautiful night for soccer, with warm temperatures and a cool breeze.  The game started and both teams took some time to get a feel for the pace.  Chi High showed to be a very physical team but Superior held their ground.  After several minutes of back and forth action, the Cardinals took a break into the box on the far side and a foul was called resulting in a penalty kick opportunity for Chippewa.  Fortunately for the Spartans, the kick sailed over the goal.  After settling in, Superior controlled the possession and had several opportunities but to no avail.  The game stood tied 0-0 at halftime.

In the second half, the tension continued and the play was similar.  Superior had several opportunities but was not able to find the back of the net.  The physicality wore on and eventually the Spartans earned a corner.  It was senior Aiden Pagnucci with an inswinging ball to the near post that was perfectly deflected by senior defender Brady Bachand for his first ever varsity goal!  The blurry picture above was the best we could get of the moment right before the fateful header.

With renewed spirit, the Spartans carried the momentum and about 10 minutes later they struck again.  This time senior Chase Danielson headed forward a pass to Pagnucci who brought the ball back to his favorite left foot and chipped the goalie to the back post.  That beautiful goal gave Superior a 2-0 lead and all they needed to hold strong for the victory.

Sophomore Keagan Shannon earned the shutout in goal with help from the back line of defense that included freshman Christian Smith, sophomore Titus Thompson, junior Mannix James, and the aforementioned goal scoring Bachand!  Superior is 1-0 and takes home an important win against an opponent in our playoff section.  The JV team fell to Chippewa Falls 5-0 earlier in the evening and falls to 0-1 on the season.  Both Spartans squads return to action for a quad on Saturday at Eau Claire Memorial.  Superior will play Sparta at 10am and Holmen at 1pm. 

2026 Season Preview

 

The defending Lake Superior Conference Champions are ready to roll for another season of high school boys soccer in the northland.  The Superior Spartans have gone through open gyms, contact practices, conditioning, a full week of practice, and a pre-season scrimmage with Eau Claire Memorial.  The season starts tonight at Chippewa Falls High School.

This year's program is once again headed up by Coach Otto Berti.  Coach Berti enters his eleventh season at the helm as varsity coach and thirteenth total in the program.  For the third straight year the staff remains the same with Coach Thomas Bush assisting the varsity and heading up the JV, and Coach Evan Ridd as a volunteer assistant specializing in conditioning and goalkeepers.  Coach Bush is entering his tenth year with the program in this his second stint (2007-2011 and 2022-present).  Coach Ridd is now entering his third year with the Spartans.

Superior returns 12 players from last year when we finished 12-4-1 and the #4 seed in the WIAA playoffs as well as the LSC Championship.  This year's captains are seniors Chase Danielson, Spencer Kidd and Aiden Pagnucci, and junior Marc Pagnucci.  Once again Spencer Kidd returns as the leading goal scorer with a total of 70 career goals.  The Pagnucci brothers return with a flashy combo of passing, crossing, and finishing.  Marc comes off last season with 6 goals and Aiden finished last year with 4 goals.  Chase Danielson will be the anchor in the middle of the field running the CAM position.  Another bright spot is the return of both goalies from last year's championship squad with senior Brady Bachand and sophomore Keagan Shannon.  The Spartans bring back 8 returning starters and are looking to repeat as conference champions and take it a step further with a win in the playoffs.

The numbers are a little lower this year, with 33 total players in the program.  Nine seniors, eight juniors, six sophomores and 10 incoming freshman.  But the goal this year remains the same.  REPEAT as LSC champions, host a playoff game, and win!

Good luck to the Spartans!  We hope to see you out on the pitch cheering them on!

Preseason Scrimmage with Eau Claire Memorial

 

On Saturday night the Spartans hosted the Old Abes of Eau Claire Memorial for a pre-season scrimmage at UWS Superior Choice Credit Union Stadium.  Memorial is one of the classiest programs in the state of Wisconsin and for years has consistently been in the top 2 seeds of WIAA Division 1 Section 1.  Superior was in for a challenge, but was up for the task!  The game would be played in four 20-minute quarters.  Eau Claire Memorial was also honoring a former player, Ryder Woodworth, who died 5 years ago in a car accident.  He was a recent Memorial graduate that was committed to playing at UW-Superior.  Both teams, players, coaches, and referees observed a moment of silence in honor of Ryder prior to the opening whistle.

After the first quarter, the score was tied 0-0 as both teams were getting used to things.  Senior Brady Bachand started in net and made a couple early saves.  The Spartans looked solid and competitive against a very strong Memorial side.  If the first 20 minutes were quiet, the next 20 were an explosion of activity and scoring.

Memorial struck first to lead 1-0 at the 22:15 mark.  But the Spartans responded quickly.  At 23:58, junior Marc Pagnucci headed home a corner kick from his brother, senior Aiden Pagnucci to tie the game 1-1.  BUT, the Old Abes were even quicker to respond.  At 24:59 they took the lead back.  Superior showed resolve by earning a free kick just a few moments later.  Marc Pagnucci sent it in and senior Spencer Kidd headed it home to once again tie the game, 2-2!  Memorial fought back again by scoring at the 29:19 mark to take a 3-2 lead into the half.  In a span of 7:04 the teams combined for 5 goals!

While there were a few opportunities, the third quarter produced no scoring for the Spartans.  It was the Old Abes who were able to convert a couple more goals to take a 5-2 lead into the final 20 minutes.  Superior headed into the final period hoping to get on the board again, but Memorial held strong to finish the game with a 5-2 win.  Bachand had 4 saves in the first two periods, while sophomore Keagan Shannon had 5 saves in the last two periods.

The result was tough, but the team played strong and showed spirit against a formidable opponent.  We appreciate Coach David Kite and his staff as well as the players of Eau Claire Memorial.  They were a solid team and played with a high level of sportsmanship.  It was good exposure for the Spartan boys to see what a high class program looks like.  The Old Abes motto this season is "Gentlemen and Warriors."  Good luck to those boys, and maybe we'll see you in the playoffs?!

The Spartans' season opens up at Chippewa Falls on Tuesday.  Last season, Superior defeated Chippewa 3-1 at home.  Eau Claire plays Tuesday night against Holmen, the team that eliminated Superior in last year's WIAA playoffs.  Memorial defeated Holmen 6-0 in the second round.

LSC Jamboree Results

 

The Lake Superior Conference pre-season jamboree was held on Saturday, July 25th at Arlington Fields in Duluth.  This was the second annual event and included 7 teams from the area.  The Spartans were scheduled for three short matches, one right after the other.  

In the opening match, Superior faced off with Duluth Marshall.  The Hilltoppers struck first with some good passing and the Spartan defense still figuring things out.  Marshall made it 2-0 on a mess in front of the goal area.  Superior looked sloppy and sluggish.  After halftime, Superior played better and even controlled much of the second half possession.  Eventually, Aiden Pagnucci drove in a goal on the assist from Spencer Kidd, but that was not enough as Superior fell 2-1.

In the second game, the Spartans met up with the Duluth East Greyhounds.  East was a faster team and controlled the possession.  However, Superior held strong and played a good match as the day drew longer.  Spencer Kidd had a pair of goals, but East proved to be too much as they prevailed 4-2.  Zack Monaghan drew a penalty kick for the first Spartan goal from Kidd and had an assist on the second Kidd goal.

In the third and final bout, Superior battled the Proctor Rails and it was a dominant effort from the beginning.  The Spartans clearly controlled possession and started the scoring from the get go.  Marc Pagnucci had two goals and an assist, Zack Monaghan had a goal and an assist, Oliver Farell and Christian Smith each scored a goal, and Mannix James added an assist.  The final score was 5-0.  Incoming freshman Liam Perrault had the shutout in goal.

Overall it was a good day to get back out on the pitch and see some competition.  We have a lot of work to do, but we are very excited to get the new season going.  Contact practices start this week, followed by two weeks of conditioning.  Then we have official practices starting August 17th and our first game at Chippewa Falls on August 25th.  Let's go Spartans!!!

Week Schedule July 26-31

We have some important practices coming up next week.  Our last open gym will be Sunday, July 26 and then we have contact practices on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.  The following two weeks will be conditioning, a great way to get in shape before the season starts.  And then the first OFFICIAL practice is Monday, August 17!

Here is the schedule for this coming week:

Sunday, July 26 - open gym - 8pm-9:30pm

Monday, July 27 - contact practice - 5pm-8pm

Tuesday, July 28 - contact practice - 6pm-9pm

Thursday, July 30 - contact practice - 5pm-8pm

Friday, July 31 - contact practice - 5pm-8pm

All of the above will be at the main soccer complex at NBC Spartans Sports Complex.

Important Upcoming Dates

 All boys interested in playing soccer at Superior High School for the 2026 season should be aware of the following dates:

Open Gyms - July 12, July 19, July 26 (8pm-9:30pm at the complex)

Contact Practices - July 27-July 31 (5pm-8pm at the complex)

Conditioning - August 3-7 and August 10-14 (times TBD)

First Day of Tryouts - Monday, August 17

Please remember to get registered with the athletics office at the high school and make sure you have a sports physical on file.  Typically, they are good for two years.  If you are not sure, contact Nicole in the AD office.

Any other questions, contact Coach Berti or Coach Bush.

June Open Gyms

We are one month from our first contact practices!  Those will be the last week in July.  But for June we still have open gyms every Sunday night from 8pm-9:30pm at the main complex.  Join us:

June 7

June 14

June 21

June 28