SANFORD — The hosting Sanford boy’s soccer team grinded out a 3-1 win over rival Massabesic Tuesday night at Cobb Stadium.

The Spartans (3-6-1) entered Tuesday’s clash after losing two tough games to Marshwood and Noble by a combined score of 11-0.

Sanford coach Tim Fecteau hoped that Tuesday’s win would help get his team back on track.

“This was a huge one here for homecoming week. We had our struggles last week with Noble and Marshwood and this team needed to regroup,” said Fecteau.

“It was pretty big – we lost our last few games and probably should have won them,” said Sanford senior Pat Morris. “This was a big comeback game to boost us for the rest of the season.”

The two clubs grinded in the opening half, however Sanford dominated the possession battle throughout.

Although Massabesic goalie Joshua Castonguay made a handful of big stops, the Spartans finally broke through at the 14:56 mark on a Morris goal to take the 1-0 lead.

Sanford’s Isaac Plante would then get a breakaway opportunity less than two minutes later and delivered, scoring the Spartans’ second goal and extending the lead to 2-0.

Massabesic’s Philip Anderson managed to net a goal with just under six minutes remaining in the half to cut the Sanford lead to 2-1 at the break.

Both clubs continued to play a physical game in the second half, and once again battled throughout the period.

“I think we responded fine to that. Our gameplan is to keep the ball on the ground and take the physical right out of it … but ultimately that is what teams try to do against us,” said Fecteau.

After a tough 32 minutes of play, Plante would score his second goal of the contest to put Sanford up 3-1 and secure the win for the Spartans.

Sanford goalie Marcus Gould recorded four saves on the day while Castonguay racked up seven.

Morris was happy with the way his team battled throughout the 80 minutes.

“Both of our teams like to play (physical) so it came natural. I think our team handled it well … there was good play all the way around,” said Morris.

Fecteau was also pleased with the way his team came together and played for one another.

“We did some bonding stuff – we went to a college game on Friday which brought us together. I told them that it’s easy to lose when you’re used to it, but finding a way to win and doing it is the tough part,” said Fecteau.

As Sanford enters the home stretch of the regular season, Fecteau and Morris hope their team continues to play hard and compete for a playoff spot in the Class A South conference.

“The biggest key is to get us to play our game and not to worry about everyone else. We’re our own worst enemy and they know that … we’ve got to find a way to win,” said Fecteau.

“We just need to keep playing hard and have the drive to do it,” said Morris. “We had that drive tonight so we need to just keep doing it.”

— Sports Staff Writer Alex Sponseller can be reached at sports@journaltribune.com or at 282- 1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.