Marco Wins Mexi Soccer League on Penalty Kicks

Talk about a drama-filled Friday afternoon and evening at Donna Fiala Park. First, the Marco Island United (MIU) Under 11 team finished the final 25 minutes of their lightning-delayed semifinal match on Thursday with a dramatic 2-1 win over Galacticos. Then a half hour later, they returned to the field to win the championship of the Mexi Soccer League with a 1-1 (3-0) win over Soccer 3 on penalty kicks after two five-minute overtime sessions weren’t enough to decide a winner.

Marco was ahead of Galacticos 1-0 Thursday night when lightning stopped play. Mark Stienemann scored MIU's goal against Galacticos on Thursday. Tosca Grifoni scored the winning goal for MIU on a free kick.

In the championship game against Soccer 3, MIU scored the first goal when Mark Stienemann found the back of the net in the first five-minute overtime period. Soccer 3 bounced back in the second overtime, tying the game with 45 seconds left.

Soccer 3 appeared to have an emotional edge heading into the penalty shootout, buoyed by their late score in the second overtime period. But MIU had different plans, outscoring Soccer 3 on penalty kicks, 3-0. Tosca Grifoni, kicking fourth, nailed the final penalty kick for the win. MIU goalie Kai Rossi was unscored on in the penalty shootout.

"Unbelievable game,” said Chris Bores, MIU head coach, immediately after the game. "The kids fought hard. It's hard to find words right now. That was a lot of excitement. We're just running high on emotion right now." 

It looked like Marco was headed for the win, up 1-0 in the waning moments of the second overtime period of the championship game, but Soccer 3 didn’t give up.

"They're a great team,” Bores said. "You know, they kept fighting. They caught us off guard. They did a quick counterattack and they put one in the back of the net. I give them a lot of credit because they kept fighting. They brought it to penalty kicks, which we were hoping to avoid."

The penalty shootout was especially exciting as a large crowd assembled behind the goal to watch the action.

"Our goalie, Kai Rossi, played excellent,” Bores said. “He stonewalled those couple of penalty kicks. Our kickers went up there and they buried it. It was exactly what we needed to do."

"In one of the most pressure-packed moments in soccer, they were able to finish when it mattered, in front of the biggest crowd they've probably ever played in front of. Everybody was watching the end of the game. It was incredible" says Jared Grifoni.