Pembroke Academy’s senior striker Jacob Watts sealed the Spartans’ playoff position with two cheeky goals past Coe-Brown to win the last game of the season.
On Friday afternoon, the CBNA Bears (8-5-3) hosted Pembroke (10-1-5) in a difficult senior night and postseason send-off.
Pembroke Academy was on a roll this regular season, especially on the defensive end. After finishing 4-10-2 last season, the Spartans completely turned their squad around and managed to get a top-three seed with their win over the Bears.
“We’ve always had great chemistry with each other,” Watts said after the game. “And now that, finally, we all learned our shape and learned how we want to play with each other, we’ve been thriving off of it.”
He said it felt great to put his team ahead and secure the win against a talented opponent like Coe-Brown.
Senior goalkeeper Dylan Hawkins also had a strong night with 5 saves in the second half to keep his team ahead to the end and earn a shutout.
Head Coach Drou Goff said he knew his squad had the potential to turn it around last season, but it didn’t happen. This year, with a fresh start, the boys never looked back.
Their confidence is sky high after only one loss all season. Goff also said the maturity level has risen to a point where they can be consistent in practice and in games.
On the other side of the ball, Coe-Brown was visibly frustrated by the loss and allowed Pembroke to upset its balance.
Head Coach Christian Gompert said he was confident his team could bounce back from this loss and had only seen improvements throughout the season.
Despite an up-and-down record on the schedule, he thinks the Bears’ offensive firepower and growing back-line may surprise some teams.
“I think if we dial in for all 80 minutes, we can go toe-to-toe with anybody,” Gompert said.
