HARTFORD — Jonathan Adadjo could not have given his older brother Chris a better parting gift in his final game with the Tolland boys soccer team.
With the CIAC Class M state tournament championship on the line Saturday, Jonathan Adadjo, a sophomore, got the ball away from Weston goalie Jason Dize and netted the game-winning goal with 3:26 left as the sixth-seeded Eagles topped the No. 24 Trojans 2-1 at Trinity Health Stadium.
"It's a great feeling to do it with him and for him, I don't know if I can put it into words," Adadjo said. "As a team it was what we wanted. It's something special.
"I just saw the ball there and had the determination to go get it. It's really just that feeling of what it means for our team and our town, too."
The Class M championship is Tolland's third to go with the titles won in 2009 and 2015.
After suffering back-to-back losses to Somers and South Windsor Sept. 30-Oct. 1, the Eagles (16-3-2) won their last 11 games by a combined score of 43-5.
"Culture, we're about culture in our program," Tolland coach Mike Caccomo said. "You come in every day and you do your job, maintain your discipline, have fun and we're going to have fun. You earn it. It's about these boys, every day and every effort is about them. It's not about the coaches, we just try to put them in the best position to succeed.
"This is about all of them. Last year we lost to RHAM in the quarterfinals and it stung and a lot of those seniors are here. It's about the players from my nine years and the players from the last 50 years. This is for all of them."
Caccomo took over at Tolland in 2016 after coach Jim Leahy retired following the Eagles' state championship run a year earlier.
They made the semifinals before, including his first year, but finally got the wins to play in the title game and win it.
"It's been a long road," Caccomo said. "A lot of ups and down. More ups than downs. This town and school have been good to me. The players and parents, I love them. We're one big family. We say 'Family' on three when we break the huddle and it's not a lie. It's what we are."
Weston, which was seeking its first outright state title to go with the co-championship it won in 2005 with East Catholic, finishes 9-5-7, including four state tournament wins, three on the road, against higher-ranked teams.
The Trojans led 1-0 at halftime on a goal by Luka Navaresse. But Tolland came out strong to start the second half and after several chances netted the equalizer with 29:07 left on a goal by Reid Babcock, assisted by Sean Collins.
It stayed that way until Adadjo, named the game's Most Valuable Player, delivered.
"We always knew that we had this in us," Adadjo said. "The talk at halftime wasn't about we were playing bad, but how we could get the goal back."
Goalie Andrew Chater made five saves in the Tolland net. With 20 seconds to go and the Eagles in possession of the ball deep in Weston territory the countdown was on in between quick glances at the clock to his left.
"It was just excitement, Chater said. "I see we have the ball in the corner and I'm thinking, 'This could be it. This could be it.' But you never know and we stayed strong."
Dize made six saves for Weston.
As he got ready to walk off the field in a Tolland uniform for the final time, Chris Adadjo — who scored all three goals in the Eagles' semifinal win over Stonington — was all smiles. The look he had for his younger brother next to him was filled with pride.
"This means so much and it will be one of my best memories forever," he said. "Winning a state championship with my younger brother, and he gets the game-winning goal in the last three minutes, I don't think it can get any better than that."
Player of the Game
Jonathan Adadjo, Tolland: The sophomore scored the decisive goal with 3:26 left, getting the ball away from Weston goalie Jason Dize and finding the back of the net to give the Eagles their first lead of the game and the only one they'd need.
Quotable
"He gave me the best gift ever and now he has all the bragging rights. He gets whatever he wants." – Tolland senior Chris Adadjo, after his younger brother Jonathan scored the winning goal in the Class M final.
CLASS M BOYS SOCCER FINAL
Tolland 2, Weston 1
WESTON 1 0 — 1 TOLLAND 0 2 — 2
Scoring: W: Luka Navaresse; T: Reid Babcock, Jonathan Adadjo. Goalies: W: Jason Dize 6 saves; T: Andrew Chater 5 saves. Records: Tolland 16-3-2, Weston 9-5-7.