HARTFORD — Somers boys soccer coach Rick Kelley said the goals scored by his team have been spread among several players throughout the regular season.
In the CIAC Class S state playoffs, it has been plenty of Benjamin Medrek finding William Accorsi off set pieces for goals off headers.
“Every game in this postseason, I’ve scored on the same corner kick (header),” Accorsi said.
Accorsi scored twice from Medrek on Sunday, both in the second half, for No. 5 seed Somers, which won the CIAC Class S championship 3-1 over No. 3 Haddam-Killingworth at Trinity Health Stadium.
“In the postseason, your big-time players step up and do what big-time players do, so I’m not surprised they performed so well together,” Kelley said.
It was the seventh CIAC championship for the Spartans (16-3-2), who won their seventh state championship (five outright). But this was their first in a decade and first finals’ appearance since 2017.
Kelley and Accorsi both noted the importance of the town support the team has received.
“It’s fun to have parents out at 8 o’clock in the morning in the parking lot, waiting for us, greeting the boys as they come off the bus,” Kelley said. “They went full tailgate. The support of the town is one big family taking care of each other.”
Said Accorsi: ”That’s how much this town loves this sport.”
Accorsi’s first goal broke a 1-1 tie with Haddam-Killingworth (17-5), the header off of Medrek’s corner. The two combined on an insurance goal with 9:35 left off a free kick.
“You know, shortest guy on the field, but you can always count on him to win a header,” Medrek said about Accorsi. “And, you know, he’s an unbelievable athlete. I mean, you see him in practice, he does exactly the same thing.”
Accorsi was a State Open wrestling champion at 113 pounds last winter.
In this year's tournament, Somers blazed a trail through the Shoreline Conference, taking out Haley-Ray, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook and Cromwell before turning back league champ H-K in the final.
Accorsi’s two goals proved to be an insurmountable hill to climb for Haddam-Killingworth, which was making its first appearance in a final after beating Shoreline Conference rival Morgan in the semifinals and in the league tournament final.
“We couldn’t transition to attack very well, and get the spacing that we wanted to do,” Haddam-Killingworth coach Zach Eddinger said. “We were also poor on the day, I don’t know if that was because of how much mental fortitude it required to play Morgan again (for the fourth time).”
Player of the Game
William Accorsi, Somers: Scored twice in the second half to put Somers ahead for good in the 3-1 victory to win the Class S championship.
Quotable
“Our goal was to extend the season and be in the arena, and we did that.” HK coach Zach Eddinger
CIAC CLASS S BOYS SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP
Somers 3, Haddam-Killingworth 1
(at Hartford)HADDAM-KILLINGWORTH 1 0 — 1SOMERS 1 2 — 3Scoring: S: Logan Fritze (William Accorsi), 23:47; HK: Chase Bruno (Tristen Edwards), 34:42; S: Accorsi (Ben Medred), 54:07; Accorsi (Medred), 70:25. Shots: HK 10; S 12. Saves: S: RJ Goulet 5; HK: Oscar Helkkla 5. Records: HK 17-5; S 16-3-2.