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SECTION 2A BOYS SOCCER: Cold open

Tigers fall short to Fairmont in overtime in section opener

Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Mookae Stee controls the ball during their Section 2A tournament game against Fairmont on Thursday. The Tigers fell to the Cardinals 2-1 in overtime.

MARSHALL — Both times the Marshall and Fairmont boys soccer teams faced each other this season, the games were tightly-contested and went down to the wire, with the Tigers narrowly escaping both matches with one-goal victories.

The two sides met for a third time on Thursday night to open the Section 2A tournament, and if the previous matchups were of any indication, the No. 7 seeded Tigers and No. 10 Cardinals knew things weren’t going to come easy, especially with their seasons on the line.

Unfortunately for Marshall, an early second-half goal wouldn’t be enough, as Fairmont got the equalizer late in regulation before scoring again just 45 seconds into overtime to earn a 2-1 victory over the Tigers.

Marshall coach Roberto Esparza said they had several chances to get on the board and just couldn’t take advantage and felt their passing needed to be sharper throughout the game.

“We got multiple chances but we never finished,” Esparza said. “The whole season we talked about passing and when we start passing, things look good, but as soon as they lose the ball, it takes them a lot of time to restart the passing game again.”

The teams had to endure chilling temperatures as well as a mix of sleet throughout the evening, as gametime temps hovered around the mid-30s. Both sides would have plenty of opportunities to get on the board but couldn’t capitalize throughout the first half, the two Big South foes headed into the second frame still deadlocked at no score.

Marshall came out of the gates in quick fashion to begin the final half of regulation, gaining several shots on net, but still couldn’t find the one that found the back of the net. Then with roughly 24 minutes to go, the Tigers earned a corner kick opportunity. Marshall made it count, as Mookae Stee found an open part of the net and scored to put the Tigers up 1-0.

Despite finding themselves in a deficit, the Cardinals continued to apply the pressure on their offensive side of the field, including getting a shot that sailed just over the net a few minutes later. As time continued to wind down, both sides were in search of a score to either put the game out of reach or earn an equalizer to force an overtime period. Fairmont got what it was looking for, as Juan Santana Sanz found the back of the net off the assist from Kaleb Hoye with 9:42 left, tying things at 1-1 in the process.

Both sides would have chances to get the go-ahead goal in the final minutes, but neither could capitalize, and the game would head into a sudden-death overtime, where the Cardinals struck first on a goal from Joshua Bergt to earn the comeback win.

With the loss, Marshall’s season comes to an end with an overall record of 7-4-4. Thursday’s game also marks the final game for the Tigers’ nine seniors, including Hsa Khee Lar, Mazin Abdallah, Nick Kayser, Hsa Law Eh, Hugo Cifuentes, Klee Tee Paw, Stee, Bryan Ramirez and Evon Villeda.

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