Republic stayed close to top-seeded Glendale in district play, but ended its season with a 3-1 loss at Branson Monday night.
The Tigers scored only once — on a 60-yard kick from midfield by Mitchell Heinzler, right after Glendale had taken a 2-0 lead. They had several other opportunities, including a breakaway by Julio Quezada that the Falcons turned away to avoid the equalizer. A goal on a corner kick with just over a minute left in the first half made the score 3-1, and it stayed that way the remainder of the game.
The Tigers mounted other offensive threats on a night that featured some of the most physical play of the year. But the star of the game for Republic was sophomore goalkeeper Cody Marcotte, who, despite allowing three goals, put together his best performance of the season to keep Republic within striking distance.
“Cody was unbelievable. He’s got to have at least a dozen saves, three of which were crucial. We could have easily been two or three more down,” says coach David Ashby. “He was aggressive. He was quick off his line. He didn’t back down, and he’s outweighed by a lot of these guys by 50 pounds, but he’s got a lot of fight in him.”
Republic ends its season with a 12-8 record, and Ashby says the Tigers can take lessons from their final loss into next year.
“This is a great learning experience to see what a quality team is. We can learn a lot from the way they play,” he says. “The energy level that we exhibited tonight–that’s the kind of thing that we need to have every game. This was probably one of the best games we’ve had all season.”
Glendale advances to the district championship game where they’ll meet West Plains. The Zizzers defeated Branson 3-1 in their district semifinal Monday.