TR East-Marlboro

What a way to end the Round of 16. After seven games finished without an upset, Marlboro pulls out an improbable, penalty kick win after playing East to a 2-2 tie. I knew I was going to a night game Saturday and it didn't take me long to decide to go to East-Marlboro, but I'm still glad I didn't spring for the TR South-Midd. North blowout. Here's what went down at TRE:

First off, to the poster who thought I might be teasing to the paper by holding off on the score, please don't fret. I wouldn't do that to you. The game just went as long as possible, I talked to the coaches and some of the kids and I go back to my computer in the press box to write on deadline. I may tease some stuff to the paper, but never the score.

Great win for Marlboro, but as great of a story as that was, it's hard not to feel for Brandon Zeller after this game. He quite literally did it all to get East to within inches of winning on several occasions and the ball just bounced against him. I can't remember seeing a kid play so well and have such bad luck. Here's a recap of his night:

-Scored the game-tying goal 1:30 into the second half after TRE played a very uninspired first half. That goal turned the game around, and East controlled play for the rest of the game until the pks. More on the Marlboro game-tying goal in a bit.

-Controlled the midfield in the second half. Marlboro moved the ball at will in the first half and outshot East 7-3. The final shots were 14-11 thanks to an East defense that turned it up, and it starts with Zeller on both ends.

-Hit the upper-right corner of the goal-post with about 15 minutes left. A couple inches lower and it's 3-1 TRE. That was the first of many bad breaks.

-Got taken down in the box by Alex DeJohn and appeared to hurt his knee pretty badly. But he got up, went to the sideline for a few minutes and came back. He seemed a little off the rest of the way.

-Played goalie in the shootout. He didn't save any shots, but he got a hand on Mario Rangel's attempt. The ball hit his hand, then the right post, then trickled all the way over to the other side of the net and across the line.

-Remeber that right post? It came back to haunt Zeller and East again when the senior captain ripped off the goalie jersey, threw down the gloves, and set up for the final pk. He needed to make it to force a second set of kicks, and he drilled a shot straight off the right post. Only, it didn't bounce across the goal and in, but rather right back towards Zeller.

It was a tough way to watch the game end for a player that played the game he did. I thought he was the best player on the field and to see him catch those breaks was a little hard to watch.

With all that said, the story here is Marlboro. Particularly their sophomore forward who has three SCT goals now and singlehandedly kept his team alive in the SCT. Mario Rangel's desperation boot to the upper 90 with 42 seconds left came out of nowhere. TRE dominated the second half, had some chances to seal it, didn't give Marlboro a great look all half, and all of the sudden, Rangel gets some room, and puts a shot on the money from 25-30 yard out from the left angle.

Credit, also, to the Mustangs for their play in the first half. They were outplayed after, but if not for a first half in which they controlled the game and took a 1-0 lead, Rangel's shot at the end would have been cosmetic, not consequential.

I like them a lot Tuesday against CBA, mostly because of the whole "it's hard to beat CBA three times" thing. One poster already put some picks up, and unfortunately I may need to piggy-back them, because they reflect my initial thoughts on the quarterfinal games.

I'll give you the schedule and picks Monday, in all likelihood, but for now, feast on this poll.