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Published on November 13th, 2025 | by Staples Soccer

Staples’ State Champions: How A Dozen Teams Did It

Excitement is building for Sunday’s state tournament “LL” (extra large schools) championship match.

The 3:30 p.m. clash at Hartford’s Trinity Health Stadium marks the second time Staples and Greenwich play for the crown.

The first one — in 1978 — was epic. Here’s what happened:

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The final — in Jeff Lea’s first year as permanent head coach — is played at New Canaan’s Conner Field on Monday, November 20. The Cardinals are far stronger than the squad that fell 2-0 to Staples on opening day. Dennis Taylor has transferred in from Jamaica, and scored 11 goals; he works well with Mikko Mellanen, a Finn with 13 goals and 6 assists. Greenwich is the hottest team in the LL field.

But the Wreckers’ confidence grows every time sophomore keeper Bob Simonton touches the ball. That confidence could be shaken 7:55 in, when Mellanen hooks a shot into the net, but it is not. For the second time in 5 days the Wreckers come from behind. Ten minutes later Tod Barrett turns and feeds Gordon Hull, whose initial shot is stopped. But he rams his own rebound home, bouncing it over the onrushing keeper.

Less than 2 minutes later Hull lays off at midfield for Tommy Greenwald. The fastest player on a very fleet team, he powers the ball to the left when the keeper comes just like before. The result is the same, and Staples leads 2-1. Greenwich is ahead 12-6 in first-half shots, but Simonton, Mike Noonan, Rick Jakobson, Andy Meyers and Nathan stand firm.

The second half starts equally well, but 5:15 in Cameron Hopper’s midfield blast puts the Cards back in the hunt. Then, late in the match, Taylor rips from 15 yards out. Simonton sprawls. With mud in his eye, he cannot see the ball. But he reacts instinctively, and an official calls Simonton’s save one of the best he has seen in 20 years.

Neither team breaks the deadlock in regulation time, or the first 2 5-minute sudden death overtime periods. Lea puts Doug Donovan in at fullback; the fresh blood, along with the deployment of Jakobson, Seth Sholes, Eric Zuckerman, Jeff Connors and Dave Halper at different spots, helps wear down the Cards.

Finally, in the fourth and final OT, after nearly 100 minutes of play, with both teams nearly spent – and the unsatisfying prospect of co-champions almost at hand – Barrett feeds Jeff Kates for a final attack. Kates makes a brilliant run downfield. Somehow, he gets the ball somewhere near the goal to Hull; somehow Hull fires. It is low, hard – and, just 11 seconds before the final horn sounds, it beats both the defense and keeper.

• Pandemonium reins. Hull, who does not know the overtime is sudden death, is bewildered by the mob of players, friends, parents, teachers and alumni lifting him on their shoulders. But they know – and know too that the state title is back where it belongs.

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Now, for the other 11 championships.

1963

The final game is against Hall – one of the jamboree opponents Staples faced in September. No one scores through regulation and 2 five-minute overtimes at Sterling Field, just minutes from Hall’s West Hartford campus. Tournament chairman John Ruddy ruled that the usual method of deciding tie tourney games (counting corner kicks) will not be used, since no winner is needed. Staples’ first-ever state championship is a shared one. (The Wreckers did lead, 2-1, in corner kicks.)

1967

The final is against longtime rival Brien McMahon. Despite playing 8 straight times in the FCIAC finals — which consists of only the top 2 teams, in a 1-game tournament — the teams have never met in a state final.

Both teams boast 14-1 marks. Phil Kydes has 31 goals, but the Wreckers counter with Jon Hand, Steve Baumann, Flint Brayton, Chip Young and more. The game, played before a crowd of several hundred at Wright Tech in Stamford on a cold Veterans Day Saturday morning is – unbelievably – no contest. Just 1 minute into the game, Hand bangs a loose ball home. Halfway through the third quarter Brayton converts Baumann’s pass. Soon, Hand nails a penalty kick. Kydes is bottled up by the stubborn defense of Young, Paul Baumann and goalkeeper Bill Leary. The modern era of Staples soccer is born.

1969

After a rugged semifinal against Wethersfield — won in overtime on Steve Baumann’s leaping, twisting header — the final is anticlimactic. Played against Hartford Public at Quinnipiac College, following several weather postponements, it features 2 goals by Baumann. One is off Scott Williamson’s indirect kick, the other from Steve McCoy’s cross. The Wreckers win 2-0.

1970

The Wreckers are in the finals for the 4th straight year. Third-seeded Conard-West Hartford — like Staples — has lost only once all season (2-0 to Wethersfield). The Chieftains boast the leading scorer (23) in the state, Doug King.

The Wreckers get their 16th straight shutout, and 17th of the year, in front of a frigid, large crowd at Wesleyan University. Unfortunately, Conard also gets a shutout. Both teams share the state crown, following their 1-hour, 26-minute 0-0 draw. Steve McCoy comes closest to scoring for Staples, while at the other end Charlie Russell clears a sure goal off the line. The Wreckers lead in shots, 19-8 (regulation time) and 8-4 (overtime), but none translate into goals.

Staples scarcely celebrates the co-championship, while the Chieftains go wild. But it is remarkable: The first Staples squad ever to win back-to-back titles, they outscore their opponents 54-2. And not once in 17 games has a Connecticut team scored on them. (The 2 goals came early in the year, in a 2-1 loss at Nyack, New York.)

1971

The final is a storybook rematch against defending co-champion Conard-West Hartford, 14-1 and the top seed (Staples is 6th). Like last year, the game is at Wesleyan University. Just as it seems the 1 powerhouses are headed for another 0-0 draw – with just 4 minutes to play – Jeff Williamson’s hard shot caroms off a defender and skids over the goal line. The new state champions are junior-dominated, which does not bode well for the rest of Connecticut next year.

1972

For the 3rd year in a row, Staples and Conard meet in the state finals. The West Hartford school is again powerful: 14-1-1, ranked 2nd. Yet this final, at Choate School in Wallingford, proves different from the first two. Conard controls play for the first few seconds, but the defense clears the ball to Jeff Williamson near midfield. He passes to Dennis Murphy, who catches up to the ball behind the backs, dribbles inside to the left, then outfoxes the keeper with a low line drive to the far side. Just 30 seconds have elapsed.

• That is it. The Chieftains do not surrender another goal, and the Staples defense is impenetrable. The defensive gem is halfback Stu Gagneux clearing a Conard shot that has struck the crossbar and dropped directly in front of the goal. Coach Albie Loeffler, who uses only one substitute – sophomore Charlie Perlwitz – says simply, “I think it was one of our better games.” For the 18-0-1 Wreckers, it is one of their better seasons. Which is really saying something.

1973

The finals, against top-rated Manchester, are again at Choate School in Wallingford. With 2 highly regarded, classy coaches, Loeffler and Dick Danielson; 2 defensive-minded squads, and 2 brother acts (Staples’ Eddie and Ken Murphy, and the Indians’ Werner and Reiner Cacace), the game shapes up as a classic.

• It is. It takes 84 minutes and 35 seconds – regulation time, plus 24:35 of overtime – for a winner to emerge. With the temperature 34 degrees and the wind at their back in the final 10-minute sudden death overtime, the Wreckers pressure keeper George Kanehl mercilessly. He makes several sensational saves, then outlets for a breakaway that is saved only when Jay Francis races back, forcing Werner Cacace to shoot wide.

• Within a minute Francis steals the ball from Cacace and fires upfield to right wing Ken Murphy. He unleashes a long, arcing pass 10 yards from goal. Kanehl moves to the left to cut the angle, but Jimmy Manning dives in front of 2 defenders, and heads it perfectly into the right side of the net. He is engulfed by players and fans, delirious at the unfathomable 5th straight championship. The Wreckers ride a phenomenal 20-game unbeaten streak in state tournament action, and a 43-game undefeated streak stretching over 3 seasons.

1978

See above for the Greenwich match.

1981

17-0-1 Staples prepares for 16-0-1 Simsbury, the only team ahead of them in the LL rankings. The Trojans ride 3 straight tourney shutouts, and their midfield is said to be as strong as the Wreckers’. The match is set for Sunday, November 22, at North Haven’s Sachem Field.

It is completely one-sided – but also a draw. Staples nearly draws first blood, on an electrifying play. Bruce Kinnaman – who goes on to earn Most Valuable Player honors for the match – sends a through ball to Mark Noonan. Jay Cook, cruising up the left wing, takes Noonan’s pass in stride, with a good angle on goal. His shot caroms off the far post, and rolls directly across the line. It is crossing the chalk when keeper Kevin Gallagher sprawls desperately to save.

But sweeper Tim Croft is in fine form too, and thwarts the Westporters. Finally, in the 66th minute, Mike Brown’s corner kick fools Gallagher. He is out of position when Mike Moses jumps high to head the ball solidly down and in. The Wreckers go for the jugular.

Suddenly, with just 6:46 to play, a ball outside the penalty area eludes all 3 defenders. It squibs out to Karl Anderson in front of the net. Simsbury draws level.

Staples returns to work. Cook and Moses fire solid shots in the final 90 seconds. The 2 10-minute overtimes are all Staples. But, as is the case all day, they cannot finish the great chances they create. The game ends deadlocked. The Wreckers are devastated; the Trojans, gleeful. The memorable squad, which ties the ’72 mark of most wins in a season (18), brings to mind the ’63 and ’70 teams. They too finished superb years in the unsatisfying, yet wonderful, position of co-state champs.

1982

The Wreckers enter the final against a foe they’ve wanted since an opening day loss: Ridgefield. A crowd 5 deep lines New Canaan’s Connor Field on Saturday morning, November 20.

The match is as good as anticipated. The Wreckers show skill, strength, speed and stamina; the gritty, quick-countering Tigers are used to coming from behind. Ridgefield shows only 2 strikers, an indication they seek a 0-0 draw – or a breakaway from 37-goal scorer Guy Welton.

Staples strikers Mark Noonan, Phil Dalmage, Mark Bieler and Mike Clifford track back often; midfielders Mike Brown, Jay Cook, Bandy Mahr, Miguel Almeida and Todd Coleman neutralize dangerous Tiger Dave Cole. Stopper Guy Claveloux, whom coach Jeff Lea calls the state’s best man-to-man marker ever, owns Welton. Defenders Rob Stone, Chris Myers and Mike Moses protect keeper Rob Sweetnam ruthlessly.

• But Noonan, limping with a deep thigh bruise, has just spent 2 days in bed with the flu. And barely 12 minutes into the match, Brown goes down with a knee injury. Almeida fills in expertly, and when Brown returns with 20 minutes remaining the pace is elevated even higher. It seems only a matter of time before Staples scores.

• Yet time passes. Finally, with 7 minutes to go, Ridgefield clears long. Moses immediately sends the ball back to Tiger territory. Noonan, on the right, one-times it to Brown in the center. He passes off to Clifford on the left, who alertly switches flow with a long cross to the far side of the box. Dalmage, a playoff scoring machine, flags the pass down, and shoots well to the far post. It appears to be in – until sweeper Clif Onalfo sticks a foot out, and clears off the line.

• A Wrecker 20 yards out reaches to control the clearing pass, but misses. The ball skitters to midfield, where wing defender Stone runs on as the ball pops into open space. His instep strikes it dead-on. The ball rises to the goal, 40 yards away – and rises and rises, gaining height and velocity. At just the right moment it dips underneath the crossbar.

• Keeper Tom Austin lunges futilely, but the ball has already smashed into the back netting. It falls to the ground behind him. He looks up in time to see delirious Wreckers smothering Stone, who has just scored the first goal of his varsity career – in his final game.

• But the game is not over. For 2 minutes the Tigers launch their most serious offensive flurry of the cold, gray day. Staples’ defense – aided by midfielder Cook, who clears a shot off the line – holds. For the final 4 minutes the Wreckers are once again in command. The jubilant scene is repeated moments later. The first Staples team to not win its division title is, more importantly, the 10th state champion in 19 years.

1993

The final is an overpowering 3-1 defeat of 7th-ranked, 18-2 E.O. Smith-Storrs at North Haven’s Sachem Field.

The win, on Saturday, November 20, ties a national record for state soccer titles (11), sets a school record for wins in a season (18), rekindles memories of past Wrecker crowns, and binds a new generation of players with fabled heroes of old.

Six seniors return from the previous year’s hard state final loss. They and their teammates accomplish this win with an exciting blend of take-no-prisoners defense, creative offense, and poised, intelligent play. They solve the tricky crosswind, along with twin Panther threats. Matt Bernier shadows Tom Greaser all over the field, while Brian Burns repeatedly forces Mike Dillman to dribble to the sidelines. In 80 minutes, the 2 strikers combine for just 1 shot.

Tim Caffrey is his commanding self at sweeper. Outside back Chris O’Dell shuts down dangerous Mike Neal, while behind them keeper Peter Castiglia plays his best game of the season. At midfield Todd Champagne races far and wide, picking off balls and initiating counterattacks. Martin Carlstedt is rock-steady, while Andrew Clement and Ray Steffen give Smith fits up and down the flanks.

The first strike comes 4 minutes after the opening whistle. Caffrey heads Champagne’s corner kick forward; Anson Ashby heads it off the bar, and Steffen powers it in from 2. Twenty-three seconds before intermission, Staples strikes again. Though Champagne’s free kick is cleared, Nick Trebat finds it and slots it through a crowd, into the right corner.

• Staples never lets up, and nets the third goal 10 minutes from time. Ashby flicks Caffrey’s chip over keeper Tom Casarella. Clement, racing through, hits it further along, and Steffen follows up to make sure it crosses the line. Neal wrecks the shutout with 2 minutes to go, but it makes little difference. Losing coach John Blomstrann says, “We got totally outplayed,” and he is right. That is why – 11 years to the day after winning their last state championship – Staples is back on top.

2009

The Wreckers shoot for their 12th state championship in 17 attempts against a New Milford side making its 1st-ever championship appearance.

The scouting report on New Milford for coach Dan Woog is clear: Contain dangerous Brazilian midfielder Miguel Carneiro. Defend well against long throws. Play Staples’ game, and force the Wave to adapt. Every Wrecker is ready to do it — and have a great time doing so.

A whiteout crowd fills 3 large sections of Ridgefield’s handsome Tiger Hollow on a mild Saturday November 21 afternoon. New Milford fills 2 — and they’re stunned when, just 2:15 after the opening whistle, Mikey Scott took a long throw, Brendan Lesch outleaps the tall defense, and heads past keeper Jack Holub. Staples has scored early often this year — but never this quickly. And not against a state finalist, known for stingy defense.

Four minutes later, they strike again. Scott’s corner kick finds Lesch. His volley is blocked, but bounces to Mike White. He pounces, for a truly stunning 2-0 edge.

The Westporters keep pressuring. White’s speed, Greg Gudis’s ball-winning, Scott’s yeomanlike work on the left flank, and Andrew McNair — playing his best match in a Staples uniform — thrill the crowd.

Lesch combines creativity with toughness. Alan Reiter covers enormous swaths of territory, finding seams with his passes, and holding on deftly to create space for himself and teammates. Matteo Marzoli comes on to provide elegant distribution, and solid marking.

Behind them Mikey Fitzgerald commands the air, and goes forward authoritatively. Outside backs Sean Gallagher and Frankie Bergonzi are twin iron curtains. Few Wavers slip through. When 1 does, Jack Hennessy annihilates the threat. Keeper Michael McCarthy is battling an illness — but no one knows it. He boxes when he needs to, catches when he can, and is so steady with his positioning, saves and outlets that New Milford never mounts a dangerous shot on net.

At halftime, the Wreckers know they will not let New Milford back in the game. Three minutes after play resumes, Bergonzi laces a cross. Gudis hauls it in, shoots — and Scott nails the bobble.

Less than 3 minutes later, it’s 4-0. Lesch’s shot is blocked. Effortlessly he gets a foot on the ball again, and lofts a shot over the keeper, from 20 yards out. The junior opened the season with a breathtaking bicycle kick; he bookends with an equally remarkable strike.

Steven Denowitz spells Fitzgerald on defense; Jake Krosse comes on to wreak havoc on the side. As the match winds down Justin Hawrysh, Nate Greenberg, Jason Bennett and Nick Cion join fellow seniors McCarthy, Hennessy, Fitzgerald, Reiter, McNair and White on the field.

When the final whistle blows — signaling Staples’ 12th state championship, and 1st since 1993 — all 11 seniors on the team are playing. It is a fitting tribute to the Wreckers’ fine legacy — to all the players who came before, who helped get this team to the title; to Albie Loeffler, the program’s founder who died 2 months earlier, 1 day shy of his 94th birthday; and to the importance of commitment to a team and a goal, over a long period of time.