The Milford boys celebrate the first boys soccer title in the school's history after beating Campbell 5-4 in the Division II title game on Friday night in Exeter. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

EXETER – They made history, and in a somewhat dramatic way.

Yes, fans at Exeter’s Bill Ball Stadium didn’t have long to digest the game-tying goal by Campbell High School’s Luke Delia with 5:13 remaining in Friday night’s Division II boys soccer championship game.

That’s because just a minute later Milford’s Avery Wilson threw his body into the goal mouth – as well Campbell goalie Jack Bourque – and somehow nudged the ball into the goal after a free kick by teammate Vincent Arsenov. All that did was give the Spartans their first boys soccer title ever, 5-4.

“I was just going after it,” said Wilson, who had two goals for the No. 3 Spartans (15-2-2) along with Tiegan Barb. “I don’t even know what happened, it hit somebody, I saw it went in and I was like, you know what, it’s there.”

The Spartans had a 2-0 lead at the half but two Cougar goals tied it at 2 in the first four-plus minutes of the second half. Then the see-saw began, Arsenov scored on a penalty kick two minutes later after Wilson was knocked down in the box to make it 3-2, and nine minutes later Jack Larose evened it up. Yikes.

OK, Barb banged home a rebound past Bourque to give the Spartans a 4-3 lead in the 61st minute, but Delia evened the scored with his clutch goal just when the clock hit five minutes to go. But the final tie lasted only a minute.

“First of all, they (Campbell) are a heckuva team,” Milford coach Anson Thibault said of the No. 1, 17-2-1 Cougars, with whom Milford split a pair of games in the regular season. “Kudos to them. We somehow found a way (to beat them) twice.

“The thing that has impressed me the most about our team all season has been their resilience. They have found a way, found a way, all three playoff games found a way. We were down in two of them, tied multiple times in this one. Incredibly proud of the guys, worked so hard and earned it.”

It had to be tough for the Cougars, who won the Division III title last year and moved up to Division II, with Milford the only team to beat them all fall. And Delia, who has a knack of scoring big goals, did it again only to see his team fall short.

“I don’t know, the wind was obviously a huge factor,” Delia said. “We fought. We were just unlucky.”

The blustery wind hit its peak in the second part of the first half, and the Spartans took advantage. They scored just over 12 minutes in, before the wind really got fierce, when Wilson charged in and beat Bourque as the ball spun just off his fingertips. Then Barb pounced on a rebound and buried it for a 2-0 Spartans lead.

“I said at halftime they might be up 2-0 but it’s rally tied because that wind was worth two goals,” Campbell coach Dan Dufourny said. “We’re a second half team for whatever reason in these playoffs. We like to get down then come back.”

And they did just that, Delia scoring 2:48 into the second half and Larose pouncing on a loose ball just out of the reach of Spartans goalie Darian Bachelder during a mad scramble, the play started by a rush by Nathan Roche less than three minutes later, making it 2-2.

One of the keys for Milford was Arsenov, who scored his team’s third goal and set up the game winner.

“When we beat them, Arsenov didn’t play, and he was a big factor today,” Dufourny said.

“He’s a great player, he showed up big for us in great moments, we couldn’t have won it without him,” Thibault said. “And Tie, that was the game of the year, man. Those were his first two goals of the year, and he decided to show up in the state championship. Incredible. Proud of him.”

Milford’s Avery Wilson, left, gets a step on Campbell’s Ethan Bellino en route to scoring a goal during Friday night’s Division II title game in Exeter. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Milford’s Avery Wilson, left, gets a step on Campbell’s Ethan Bellino en route to scoring a goal during Friday night’s Division II title game in Exeter. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

For the Cougars, it would have been impressive had they pulled off two straight titles in different divisions, but it didn’t happen.

“We’re bummed but nobody expected a team from (Division) III to come up and be here,” Dufourny said, “and definitely didn’t expect to be in first place (after the regular season).”

And on the flip side, the Spartans stake their all-time claim after the battle between the teams of two great players, Wilson (55 career goals, mainly in three seasons) and Delia (110 career goals) finished in the former’s favor.

“It’s great,” Wilson said. “This year was one of my best seasons, I could do without midfielder Vincent Arsenov and the others. I’m really happy for our team and for the outcome. I’m glad we did it this year, and we made history.”