Boys soccer: Freshman goalie steps up as Terra Linda wins section title

The Terra Linda High boys soccer team had already gone to penalties once before Saturday’s North Coast Section Division III title game against Marin Academy. While the Trojans lined up the same five players to take kicks during the shootout, they made a switch in goal that paid massive dividends.

Freshman goalie Jesse Rodriguez, who has been the starter for most of the season, remained in goal this time around after playing 100 minutes against MA. Rodriguez got a hand on three different MA penalty kicks and saved two of them to lift TL to a 4-2 shootout win after a 1-1 tie through regulation and both overtimes. Dominic Yu scored inside the last 10 minutes for MA (18-1-2) before Kleber Maldonado equalized for TL (13-5-4).

“We all thought we just need to go with the player who’s been playing for 100 minutes,” TL coach Mike Crivello said of the PK shootout. “We just thought that was our best option at the time and he proved us right obviously because he came up huge. It wasn’t like those were hit right at him. He had to make some saves.”

Rodriguez, nicknamed “Pono”, got a touch on the first penalty shot he saw but was unable to keep it out of his goal. Rodriguez guessed right again on the second kick, saving it to give TL a leg up in the shootout. TL got successful kicks from Roan Goertz, Chris Maldonado, Liam Hadden and Leo Vicente then Rodriguez sealed the title with a save on MA’s fifth kick, sprawling to his left to make an impressive stop.

Rodriguez with the save to send TL to the title. #marinsoccer pic.twitter.com/dM6CYUER2n

— Ian Ross (@IRossMIJ) February 25, 2023

“He was left footed I believe, so I knew he was going to curl it to a corner,” Rodriguez said of his title-clinching save. “I had to fully commit to one side and fully stretch and the ball was just there for me.”

The save gave the Trojans their first section title in boys soccer since the sport moved from fall to winter for the 2016 season.

“It was a weight off my shoulders, for sure,” said Kleber Maldonado, who would have taken TL’s fifth penalty if necessary. “When I saw him make that save, I didn’t know what to think, just like ‘Damn, we just won NCS.’ After having a tough season in MCALs, we won MCALs and then NCS. We had a tough start with Archie (in the quarterfinals) but we got it done. It was a lot of emotions — a lot of happiness and relief.”

TL’s last section title came in 2014 on penalty kicks against Montgomery. In that game, field player Jerry Maldonado – Chris’ older brother – came in and played in goal during the shootout. Last week, Crivello opted for JV callup Anton Schultz as Terra Linda prevailed against Archie Williams in the quarterfinals.

“It was a Catch 22,” Crivello said of the decision to keep Rodriguez in for the shootout. “We kind of went back on our NCS history where it did work but again a field player is in the rhythm of the game versus coming in cold off the bench. I think we all looked at each other and the captains said ‘No, we’ve got to keep Pono in.’”

The Trojans almost didn’t make it to penalty kicks. The teams battled to a scoreless tie into the final 10 minutes of regulation before MA broke through with a goal in the 74th minute.

Yu was attacking down the left wing, cut inside and had his initial shot blocked by TL defender Rafael Gonzalez. Yu stuck with the play, retrieved the ball then blasted it into the far corner of the goal for a 1-0 lead.

“I looked and there’s maybe 7, 8 minutes left,” Rodriguez said. “I’m telling my team ‘Keep your head up, stay positive.’ There’s still time to score. In 30 seconds, 15 seconds, you can score from anywhere on the field.”

Three minutes later, TL was back on level terms. Elvin Maldonado received the ball inside the 18-yard box and played it toward Kleber Maldonado, who was in front of goal with a defender and MA’s goalie closing in on him.

“It’s all a blur now to me but somehow Kleber ended up with it and put it in the back of the net,” Crivello said.

There was some contact in the box on the scoring play — MA wanted a foul called in its favor — but, after a brief chat with his linesman, the referee signaled that the goal was good.

Both teams had golden opportunities to end the game in overtime. MA’s Malcolm Zalayet unleashed a powerful shot from inside the 18-yard box in the 88th minute that ricocheted hard off a TL defender and went wide of the target.

TL almost won the game in the second overtime when Elvin Maldonado sent a free kick to Hadden on the back post. MA goalie Alex Hayward saved the ball right on the line.

“(Hadden) was just trying to toe poke it and get it in but the keeper was right there,” Crivello said “He’s such a big keeper. He covers so much ground and it’s really hard to score (against him). That was unfortunate because I think we were all ready to celebrate already because we thought we had it.”

Terra Linda and Marin Academy are set to be two of the four soccer teams representing Marin in next week’s NorCal playoffs. Branson and Marin Academy also qualified on the girls side. The seeding meeting is set for Sunday and the tournaments begin on Tuesday.