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Boys Soccer: Marriotts Ridge returns to 2A state final

It took battling through its first real adversity of the playoffs, but Marriotts Ridge has itself headed back to the state's biggest stage.

Scoring three second-half goals to break open a game that was tied at the half, the Mustangs sprinted past South Carroll, 4-1, in the 2A State semifinals Friday night to earn themselves a shot at the program's third straight state title.

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"The kids really responded and turned it up another notch in the second half," Marriotts Ridge coach Kevin Flynn said. "It was great to see and, you know, things are just really coming together for us right now.

"You always want to peak at the end and that's exactly what we're doing."

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Marriotts Ridge will play Fallston on Saturday in the 2A championship game at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

To get its title chance, the Mustangs again turned to an offense that has been consistently dominant throughout the playoffs.

Just 10 minutes into the game, Jonathan Muth put Marriotts Ridge ahead 1-0 by cleaning up a rebound off a shot by Brad Martinelli that had caromed off the left post. It was the fourth time in four postseason games that Marriotts Ridge has scored first.

However after a couple near misses by the Mustangs, including a breakaway attempt by Nick Applegate that was stopped by Cavaliers' goalie Brandon Quinn midway through the opening half, South Carroll got the opening it needed to pull back even.

An errant pass by Marriotts Ridge on its' defensive half of the field was picked off by Cavs' forward Ethan McBryde, who streaked toward goal and finished into the right corner past a diving Pat Moore (2 saves) with 7:32 left before intermission. It was McBryde's team-leading 18th goal of the year.

The game went into halftime tied at one.

"We went in and some heads were down, but I was like 'guys if we were coming into the locker room at 0-0 nobody would be upset,' " Flynn said. "It was a tie ball game and we were creating plenty of chances."

Sure enough, it didn't take long for the Mustangs to make good on one of those chances in the second half. Less than three minutes after the break, Sam Willsey played a perfect long ball to Applegate running down the left side.

This time, Applegate converted the one-on-one opportunity by slipping a right-footed shot just inside the right post.

"After missing that one in the first half, I had to make it. You don't get too many of those (opportunities)," Applegate said.

For South Carroll (15-3), Applegate's goal turned out to be the beginning of the end.

"Them getting that second goal, that early on, was the killer," South Carroll coach Tim Novotny said. "Any momentum we had, that took it right back."

Eight minutes later, Marriotts Ridge (13-4-1) upped the lead to 3-1 when Connor Delaney headed home a corner kick by Martinelli on the far post. Then, with 3:34 left in regulation, Martinelli capped off the scoring with a beautiful shot that just cleared the outstretched hands of Quinn (7 saves).

The four scores Friday give the Mustangs 19 goals in their four postseason games and, more importantly, plenty of momentum heading into the championship contest.

"Most of these guys weren't around for the first one and a lot of them didn't play a whole lot last year, so I've kept trying to tell them that it's not about three in a row, it's about yours," Flynn said. "This is about this year, not about what last year's team or the year before did. You can tell, right now, they want it."

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