Bainbridge has their eyes set on a state championship, and it showed March 28 on the road against Bremerton as forward Cruz Piland’s hat trick led the Spartans to a 10-1 romping over the Knights.

“We know we want to win a state championship,” Piland said. “We’re gonna play like that every single day.”

The Knights managed to score a goal on Bainbridge goalkeeper Cooper Harrington early on in the match, marking the first time all season the Spartans trailed.

But Bainbridge responded five minutes later with a goal to tie it up 1-1.

The Spartans controlled the tempo of the match from that point forward. Then Piland scored a goal off of a Knight turnover at the 25-minute mark, pushing Bainbridge’s lead to 2-1 before the halfway point of the first half.

The Knights began to struggle to keep the ball out of their own territory, with the Spartans consistently and effectively generating turnovers in the midfield and forcing the ball onto Bremerton’s side of the field. Spartans midfielder Jazz Epstein scored another goal for the Spartans. Piland quickly followed up with his second goal of the match, increasing Bainbridge’s lead to 4-1 by the ten-minute mark in the half.

“We have to not waste that first touch,” Spartan coach Mark Nowak said. “We have to make sure that we’re attacking.”

Spartan midfielder Dana Goodwin kicked off the scoring for both squads at the 28-minute mark of the second half, slipping a goal past Knight goalkeeper Rafael Alonzo Esteban and increasing the Spartans’ lead to 5-1. Piland earned his third goal of the night shortly after, giving the Spartans a five-goal lead over the Knights with 25 minutes remaining in the game.

Bremerton continued to struggle to gain any offensive momentum throughout, failing to get the ball out of Bainbridge territory for a consecutive eight minutes.

Spartan midfielder August Peterson put in another goal for Bainbridge, increasing their lead to eight with less than ten minutes remaining in the game.

“We’re never not firing,” Nowak said. “As you guys saw tonight, we have so many different goal scorers.”

Bainbridge senior defenseman Zane Decker looks to make a play against Bremerton March 28.